TRAINING  FORTE 

NEWSPAPER 

TRADE 


DON  C.SEITZ 


ALVMHVS  BOOK  FVND 


LIPPINCOTT'S 

TRAINING  SERIES 

"FOR  THOSE  WHO  WANT 
TO  FIND  THEMSELVES" 


TRAINING  FOR  THE 
NEWSPAPER  TRADE 


LIPPINCOTT'S 
TRAINING  SERIES 

"For  those  who  want 

to    find  themselves" 

The  books  in  the  Lippincott's  Training  Series, 
by  the  leaders  in  the  different  professions,  will  do 
much  to  help  the  beginner  on  life's  highway.  In  a 
straightforward  manner  the  demand  upon  charac- 
ter, the  preparatory  needs,  the  channels  of  advance- 
ment, and  the  advantages  and  disadvantages  of 
the  different  pursuits  are  presented  in 

THE  TRAINING  OP  A  SALESMAN 
BT  WILLIAM  MAXWELL 

Vice-President  of  Thomas  A.  Ediion,  Inc. 

TRAINING  FOR  THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 
BY  DON  C.  SEITZ 

BuiineM  Manager  ol  the  New  York  World. 

TRAINING  FOR  THE  STAGE 
BT  ARTHUR  HORNBLOW 

Editor  of  "The  Theatre  Magaiine.'^ 

TRAINING  FOR  THE  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY 

BUSINESS 
BT  C.  B.  FAIRCHILD,  JR. 

Executive  Assistant,  Phils.  Rapid  Transit  Co. 

TRAINING  AND  REWARDS  OF  THE 

PHYSICIAN 
BT  RICHARD  C.  CABOT,  M.D. 

TRAINING  OF  A  FORESTER 

BT  GlFFORD  PlNCHOT 

These  books  should  be  in  every  school  and  college 
library.  Put  them  in  the  hands  of  your  young 
friends;  they  will  thank  you. 

Other  volumes  in  preparation 
Each  thoroughly  illustrated,  decorated  cloth 


LIFPINCOTT'S  TRAINING  SERIES 

TRAINING  FOR  THE 
NEWSPAPER  TRADE 


BY 

DON  C.  SEITZ 

BUSINESS   MANAGER   OF   "NEW   YORK   WOBLD ' 


'Once  a  journalist,  always  and  forever 
a  journalist." 

— RUDYABD   KlPLINQ 


PHILADELPHIA  &  LONDON 

J.  B.  LIPPINCOTT  COMPANY 


COPYRIGHT,    I9I<J,   BT  J.  B.  LIPPIITCOTT  COMPANY 


PUBLIBHKD   SEPTEMBER,    Ipl6 


COMPANT 
AT  THE  WASHINGTON  SQUARE  PBESfl 
PHILADELPHIA,  TJ.  S.   A. 


"P IV  4- 773- 


To  THE  MEMORY  OP 

SIMEON  DRAKE 

PRINTER 


CONTENTS 


PAQB 

TRAINING  AND  OPPORTUNITY 17 

THE  TRADE 38 

THE  EDITOR 49 

THE  REPORTER 62 

THE  READER 82 

INDUSTRIAL  SIDE 96 

ADVERTISING Ill 

ILLUSTRATING 126 

CIRCULATION 135 

THE  COUNTRY  PAPER 151 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Where  Many  Start — Composing  Room  of  a  Country  News- 
paper Office Frontispiece 

A  Busy  Press  Room 22 

Monotype  Operators  at  Work 30 

A  Business  Office  Foyer 45 

Preparing  Night  Copy  for  Morning  Newspaper 51 

The  City  Staff  of  a  New  York  Evening  Newspaper 64 

Stereotypers  Molding  Pages 87 

A  Battery  of  Linotypes 98 

Monotype  Casting  Room 110 

A  Hand  Composing  Room 120 

Photo-Engraving  Plant 132 

Mailing  Department  of  a  Country  Newspaper 156 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 


W          J2i  U 


bD 


''s 


t»D 


10 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 


II -s 

"3  S 

<a- 


CO      I 

ras 

-§ 


1ft! 

„.    0}  -^  *^ 

WP^     «3  J> 

II      * 

^2'3-SS 


^ 

s 


-a 

* 


>.o 


,fell?l1 


O 


11 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 


1 


i 


l-s 

II 


II 

>  (D  -H 


e 
t  Ci 


aders 
Night 
rter 


rrs  de 
ight 


a 
•€ 


111  a  Hi 

iiirls=a 


Copy  re 


he 
repo 
the  n 


on 
and 
for 


iprai 

l£*i|SJ  j 

ifMt-1*! 


a<§ 

fi^ 


lino 
Assi 
mo 
ker 
"b 


AD 


^ 

u 


] 

1 


12 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 


i 


13 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 


lit* 


1 

P-i 


14 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 


chec 


2  a 

<x> 


^ 


gtffi) 

.•§«§ 

.s  8)  * 

c2 


4344 

tn    fn 


I 


H 

H 

fa 

o 
pM 
o 

^s 

0^3 

ll 


W   jj 

•3  8 

^g 

"si 

01  "" 


a^ 

sisl 


s, 


ce.J-5 
6-S 

SS 

o  a 

PH 


•1111  fc 


^ll 


<u  a  a 
r^.a  <^ 


§  "^-"S 
g.a  e8 .w 

"      ^"d    W3  ^ 

llJ1!-= 
111^°- 


bC 

S3 


o  S 

5^ 


S3   S3 

d*C 

•58.. 

<D  5 


15 


TRAINING  FOR  THE 
NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

TRAINING  AND  OPPORTUNITY 

WHAT  does  a  newspaper  career  hold  out 
to  young  men  in  the  way  of  interest  and 
advantage?  This  can  be  answered  generally: 
It  offers  an  education  greater  than  any  col- 
lege or  university  can  afford ;  it  puts  them  in 
close  touch  with  the  great  affairs  of  the 
universe;  it  makes  them  broadminded  and 
rouses  an  intellectual  activity  not  inspired 
in  any  other  profession  or  trade. 

The  newspaper  is  the  mirror  of  modern 
life  in  which  all  phases,  of  thought  and  ac- 
tivity are  reflected.  To  become  competent 
in  the  employ  of  a  newspaper  means  that  a 
man  must  educate  himself  in  advance  of  the 
rest  of  the  world,  in  order  that  he  may  eluci- 
date and  exploit  the  happenings  of  the  day 

intelligently.    Unlike  education  as  it  is  pro- 
2  17 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

vided  in  schools  and  colleges,  this  learning  is 
picked  up  automatically  under  pressure.  If 
the  youth  is  fitted  to  become  a  newspaper 
worker  he  absorbs  ideas  and  intelligence 
with  his  day's  work;  he  becomes  thoroughly 
grounded  in  the  widest  possible  range  of 
knowledge,  until  his  mind  shows  radio- 
activity. 

Primarily,  the  newspaper  office  is  not  a 
place  where  a  good  living  is  to  be  had  by  the 
mere  performance  of  a  day's  work.  Many 
other  lines  of  exertion  are  easier  to  master 
and  much  more  certain  in  their  steady  finan- 
cial productivity. 

To  enjoy  life  truly  one  must  find  some- 
thing more  than  money  in  his  task.  When 
old  Omar  wondered  if  the  winesellers  could 
buy  with  the  proceeds  of  their  vintages  any- 
thing one-half  so  precious  as  the  stuff  they 
sell,  he  expressed  a  deep  idea.  The  item 

called  a  newspaper,  book  or  magazine,  pro- 
is 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

duced  by  eager  brains  and  willing  hands,  is 
much  more  precious  to  mankind  than  any 
money  its  sale  brings  to  the  producer! 

This  thought  must  be  in  the  mind  of  every 
one  who  adopts  the  art  of  letters — the  Art 
Preservative — for  a  livelihood.  To  grasp 
what  the  ordinary  mind  does  not,  and  to  re- 
late it  so  that  the  ordinary  mind  will  perceive 
and  understand,  is  a  great  achievement. 
Many  people  go  through  life  with  limited 
observation.  It  is  the  privilege,  therefore 
of  the  newspaper  worker  to  see  for  the  un- 
seeing and  to  become  a  public  observer  for 
the  benefit  of  those  who  cannot  observe. 

The  trade  is  a  refreshing  and  engaging 
occupation.  It  appeals  to  the  young  and 
vigorous  intellect.  It  affords  a  deep  involve- 
ment in  public  affairs,  for  patriotic  and  pub- 
lic endeavors,  most  agreeable  to  the  indepen- 
dent American  mind.  Through  long  years 
of  unpopularity  in  a  social  sense  the  profes- 

19 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

sion  has  reached  a  rank  high  in  general 
esteem.  The  old  attitude  of  scorn  for  the 
newspaper  passed  away  with  the  Jefferson 
Bricks  and  the  penny-a-liner,  expelled  by 
the  public  acceptance  of  the  newspaper's 
value  to  the  community  and  a  realization  of 
the  great  place  it  fills  in  the  common  welfare. 
The  American  rarely  picks  out  his  course 
systematically  in  life.  He  tries  many  things 
at  great  waste  of  time  and  effort  before  he 
"  lands."  It  is  reckoned  that  only  five  out  of 
one  hundred  succeed  at  the  thing  undertaken 
in  the  first  instance.  This  is  the  natural 
result  of  dwelling  in  a  land  of  opportunity, 
where  changing  chances  fascinate  and  lead 
away  from  early  purposes.  The  great  test 
under  way  in  Germany  before  the  nation 
turned  to  war,  to  assist  natural  selection  at 
an  early  stage  and  thus  curtail  waste,  seemed 
logical  and  promised  effectiveness — but  how 
far  even  the  wisest  Herr  Professor  could  not 

20 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

say.  In  a  Democratic  country  it  does  not 
seem  possible  to  do  more  than  hold  open 
many  doors  with  free  and  easy  entrances  for 
all. 

The  printing  office  is  a  very  inviting  place ; 
the  selling  of  newspapers  a  readily  under- 
taken occupation.  The  printers  are  talented, 
adventurous  souls,  who  stand  close  to  the 
editors  in  sense  and  intelligence.  They  form 
agreeable  acquaintances  for  the  boy  with  an 
eager  mind.  From  selling  papers  to  mak- 
ing them  is  a  common  and  early  step;  from 
printing  to  owning  is  another.  Everybody 
in  America  ought  to  master  a  trade.  The 
boy  who  has  a  mind  for  journalism  should 
learn  to  finger  type  or  feed  a  press  if  he 
really  wishes  to  reach  the  top.  That  it  is 
done  without  these  accomplishments  cannot 
be  gainsaid,  but  the  journey  up  is  much  more 
pleasant  to  him  who  knows  type,  ink  and 
presses! 

21 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

Naturally  with  the  closeness  of  the  rela- 
tionship most  editors  and  publishers  are 
drawn  from  the  lower  grades  of  the  trade. 
More  than  one  successful  sheet  was  evolved 
as  a  side  issue  of  the  printing  office.  The 
very  prosperous  Brooklyn  Eagle  was  estab- 
lished by  Isaac  Van  Anden  to  keep  the 
printers  busy  between  jobs  and  Benjamin 
Day  started  the  New  York  Sun  in  1833  for 
a  similar  reason.  The  Buffalo  News,  a  nota- 
ble publication,  started  as  a  Sunday  paper, 
"  set  up  "  by  two  brothers,  Edward  H.  and 
J.  Ambrose  Butler,  who  ate  their  meals  out 
of  a  pail  and  worked  day  and  night  to  make 
the  paper  go,  though  strangely  enough  after 
the  Sunday  had  bred  a  great  evening  edition, 
it  faded  out  and  was  finally  abandoned,  with 
the  effect  of  strengthening  the  prosperity  of 
its  offspring.  The  Utica  Press  a  model 
country  daily,  was  born  of  a  printers'  strike! 

How  to  begin  save  at  the  bottom,  as  a 
22 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

printer's  boy,  is  the  question  first  asked  and 
most  difficult  to  answer.  Nearly  all  trades 
and  professions  have  an  orderly  process  of 
preparation  and  introduction.  The  news- 
paper trade  has  been  left  among  the  last  to 
haphazard  and  natural  selection.  The  estab- 
lishment of  the  School  of  Journalism  by 
Joseph  Pulitzer,  at  Columbia  University, 
New  York,  and  the  taking  up  of  the  idea  by 
other  institutions  of  learning,  now  affords  a 
place  for  beginning,  with  some  definite 
chance  for  education  and  training  in  advance 
of  experience.  There  now  exist,  besides  the 
special  school  at  Columbia,  classes  bearing 
on  phases  of  newspaper  training  in  the 
New  York  University  School  of  Commerce, 
conducted  by  James  Melvin  Lee;  the  Uni- 
versity of  Pennsylvania;  University  of 
Chicago;  Northwestern  University;  the 
University  of  Missouri ;  University  of  Texas ; 
University  of  Washington;  University  of 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

Minnesota;  University  of  Montana;  De 
Pauw  University;  University  of  Oregon; 
Indiana  University;  Toledo  (O.)  Uni- 
versity; University  of  Maine;  Iowa  State 
College;  University  of  Southern  California; 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  Commercial  High  School; 
St.  Xavier  College,  New  York;  University 
of  Kansas. 

The  Pulitzer  School  of  Journalism  ignores 
business  instruction  and  confines  its  efforts 
to  reportorial  and  editorial  training.  The 
purpose  of  the  founder  was  to  perfect  the 
intellectual  side  of  newspaper  making  and 
fit  students  for  what  he  believed  to  be  the 
highest  form  of  public  service.  Harvard 
College,  in  its  Graduate  School  of  Business 
Administration,  pays  some  attention  to  ad- 
vertising under  the  head  of  "  Marketing." 
For  a  number  of  years,  Mr.  Frank  L. 
Blanchard  has  maintained  successful  classes 
in  advertising  at  the  Twenty-third  Street 

24 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

Branch  of  the  New  York  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association.  He  and  Charles  F. 
Southard,  of  the  advertising  class  of  the 
Brooklyn  Commercial  High  School,  can 
really  be  called  the  pioneers  in  the  movement 
to  prepare  the  young  for  a  place  in  the 
Newspaper  Trade.  Instruction  in  advertis- 
ing is,  however,  devoted  to  the  construction 
of  "  copy "  for  the  advertiser,  something 
with  which  the  newspaper  has  little  to  do. 
It  is  an  adjunct  to  the  trade,  not  a  part  of 
it.  Instruction  in  soliciting  advertising  is, 
I  fear,  far  too  psychological  to  be  acquired. 
It  is  a  form  of  salesmanship  to  which  the 
paper  represented  bears  a  greater  part  than 
the  solicitor. 

Good  writing  has  gone  out  of  fashion  in 
our  mile-a-minute  age.  There  is  no  place  in 
journalism  to-day  for  the  leisurely,  reflective 
writer,  carefully  cultivating  style.  Speed 
governs.  The  newspaper  is  made  up  to  the 

25 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

minute.  So  far  as  reflection  is  permitted  it 
is  allowed  mainly  for  ideas,  not  expression. 
Even  the  few  feeble  weeklies,  designed  for 
general  circulation,  fail  to  maintain  the  old- 
time  care  for  literary  excellence.  The  less 
said  about  magazine  English  the  better! 

The  man  who  is  to  become  either  an  editor 
or  reporter,  must  learn  to  think  quickly  and 
concretely  and  write  rapidly  and  to  the  point. 
No  room  is  given  him  to  be  ornate,  or  time 
for  remodelling.  Neither  is  there  place  for 
ignorance  or  slovenliness.  Simplicity  and 
directness  are  the  chief  desiderata. 

How  can  these  qualities  be  acquired  by  the 
would-be  writer?  Few  do  it  in  advance  of 
the  requirement.  They  must  be  beaten  out 
under  the  pressure  of  actual  conditions  be- 
fore the  true  facility  is  attained.  But  there 
must  be  a  beginning.  I  can  think  of  nothing 
better  than  Benjamin  Franklin's  own  ac- 
count of  how  he  taught  himself  to  write  in 

26 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

an  inimitable  style  that  can  be  safely  taken 
as  a  model  for  all  comers.  "  About  this 
time,"  he  says,  in  his  matchless  autobiog- 
raphy, "  I  met  with  an  odd  volume  of  the 
Spectator.  .  .  .  I  thought  the  writing  excel- 
lent, and  wished  if  possible  to  imitate  it.  With 
that  view  I  took  some  of  the  papers,  and 
making  short  points  of  the  sentiments  in 
each  sentence,  laid  them  by  a  few  days,  and 
then  without  looking  at  the  book,  tried  to 
complete  the  papers  again,  by  expressing 
each  hinted  sentiment  at  length  and  as  fully 
as  it  had  been  expressed  before,  in  many  suit- 
able words  that  should  occur  to  me.  Then  I 
compared  my  Spectator  with  the  original, 
discovered  some  of  my  faults,  and  corrected 
them." 

Franklin  read  widely  and  thought  deeply. 
These  are  prerequisites  for  a  truly  success- 
ful journalist,  who  must  possess  knowledge 
far  beyond  that  furnished  by  scanning  the 

27 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

i 

day's  events.  Like  a  good  horse,  he  must 
have  "  bottom."  The  editorial  writer  who 
cannot  think  up  a  topic  until  the  news- 
proofs  begin  to  come  in  from  the  composing 
room  is  poorly  equipped  for  his  job. 

The  Pulitzer  School  of  Journalism  under- 
takes to  equip  definitely  a  student  for  every 
form  of  editorial  and  reportorial  work.  It 
is  required  that  the  applicant  shall  be  as  well 
grounded  as  he  would  be  for  a  regular  college 
course.  French,  German,  history,  science, 
politics,  philosophy  and  writing  are  included 
in  the  first  year's  course.  The  second  year 
provides  a  continuation  of  much  of  the  first 
year's  programme,  with  practice  in  writing 
special  articles  and  a  study  of  current 
events. 

The  drill  in  newspaper  technic  begins  in 
the  third  year,  the  first  half  of  which  is  de- 
voted to  financial  and  commercial  report- 
ing— the  dullest  of  routines — but  impressing 

28 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

accuracy.  Party  government,  and  munici- 
pal affairs  and  economics,  here  and  abroad, 
are  included  in  the  third  year's  curriculum. 
The  fourth  year  gives  a  practical  course  in 
reporting  and  copyreading,  to  which  are 
added  international  relations  and  a  study  of 
the  elements  of  law. 

The  course  is  exacting.  Necessarily  the 
training  is  academic,  modified  so  far  as  the 
trained  newspaper  men  who  are  welded 
with  the  collegiate  system  are  able  to  impress 
the  practical.  Teaching  journalism  is  a 
good  deal  like  teaching  how  to  shoot.  Much 
depends  upon  the  conduct  of  the  target! 

For  the  would-be  writer,  whose  instinct 
impels  him  toward  journalism,  the  best  move 
to  make  is  first  to  study  the  characteristics 
of  the  newspaper  or  publication  to  which  his 
inclination  leans.  They  all  have  their  moods 
and  habits.  It  was  easy  to  sell  a  snake  or  a 
sea  story  to  the  old  Sun.  The  odd  and  the 

29 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

interesting  have  a  market  everywhere  and 
news  seldom  has  to  knock  twice  for  admission. 
Even  the  much  congested  magazines  can 
make  room  for  a  refreshing  narrative  or  a 
story  with  a  new  slant.  The  list  of  writers 
each  year  reveals  many  new  names — those 
who  have  seen  and  conquered.  Best  sellers 
are  not  seldom  the  work  of  people  who  never 
before  put  pen  to  paper.  "  David  Harum," 
the  most  successful  book  of  the  last  twenty- 
five  years,  was  written  by  Edward  Noyes 
Westcott,  who  had  been  a  bank  cashier,  while 
he  lay  dying  from  consumption,  in  a  desper- 
ate hope  that  the  work  might  provide  for 
his  family.  Mrs.  Stowe  wrote  "  Uncle 
Tom's  Cabin  "  while  "  keeping  house  "  in 
Brunswick,  Maine,  where  her  husband  was 
a  Bowdoin  College  professor.  Gene  Strat- 
ton  Porter,  whose  "  Limberlost "  books  sell 
by  the  carload,  had  but  the  vision  of  an 

Indiana  swamp  before  her.     "  O.  Henry  " 

30 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

ground  out  his  admirable  stories  for  a  weekly 
dole  from  a  Sunday  newspaper,  after  a  tur- 
bid experience  in  Texas.  He  was  a  product 
of  the  North  Carolina  upland.  Rex  Beach 
broke  into  Alaska  and  fame  from  clerking 
in  a  Chicago  store! 

The  publishing  world  is  always  ready  for 
a  good  product,  but  its  views  as  to  what  con- 
stitute a  good  product  vary.  What  fits  one 
paper,  magazine  or  book  publisher,  may  fail 
another.  The  necessary  discernment  is  no- 
where infallible.  There  are  many  tales  in  the 
publishing  world  of  a  manuscript  rejected 
by  one  house  making  the  fortune  of  another. 

Not  infrequently,  too,  men  who  have 
failed  to  rise  on  one  journal  make  a  mark  on 
another.  Again,  the  ambitious  worker  will 
seek  out  his  ground,  study  the  papers  and 
fit  himself  to  the  most  inviting.  It  is  as  nat- 
ural to  like  writing  for  a  certain  paper  as  to 

prefer  it  for  reading  purposes. 

31 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

The  newspaper  office  is  a  world  in  itself. 
Some  great  Metropolitan  establishments  em- 
ploy as  many  as  2000  people.  Offices  with 
from  one  hundred  to  six  hundred  employees 
are  plentiful.  The  tabulation  given  else- 
where indicates  the  departments.  About 
one-third  of  the  force  will  be  mechanical, 
another  third  clerical,  mail  and  delivery  and 
miscellaneous,  and  the  remainder  be  made  up 
of  editors,  copy  readers,  reporters,  corre- 
spondents and  boys.  The  boy  is  a  plentiful 
factor  in  all  parts  of  the  establishment.  He 
is  also  the  most  volatile.  It  is  to  be  doubted 
if  one  in  a  hundred  "  sticks." 

The  table  of  occupation  also  shows  that 
there  is  a  wide  range  for  employment  outside 
of  the  purely  journalistic  end.  Many  forms 
of  professional  or  handicraft  work  are  to  be 
found.  The  trades  cover  composition,  photo- 
engraving, presswork,  stereotyping,  mail- 
ing, with  adjuncts  in  electricians,  engineers, 

32 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

firemen,  mechanics  and  chauffeurs.  Writers, 
reporters,  artists,  copy  readers,  form  another 
class,  with  variants  expressed  in  the  table. 

In  the  cities  the  trades  unions  dominate 
the  offices  and  the  opportunities  for  begin- 
ners are  small.  No  matter  how  large  the 
number  of  compositors,  for  example,  but  four 
apprentices  are  allowed  by  Typographical 
Union  No.  6  in  New  York  composing  rooms. 
Four  seems  to  be  the  limit  in  all  trades.  The 
stereotypers  practically  ban  apprentices,  re- 
lying on  out-of-town  workmen  to  recruit 
their  ranks.  In  the  press  rooms,  two  to 
three  carrier  boys  to  each  machine  have  an 
ultimate  opportunity  to  become  pressmen, 
but  not  by  any  definite  progression.  They 
must  await  the  will  of  the  union. 

Recently  the  Typographical  Union,  the 
Publishers'  Association  and  the  employing 
printers  of  New  York,  have  united  in  sup- 
porting an  apprentices'  school  for  composi- 

3  33 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

tors.  This  does  good  work,  but  its  instruc- 
tion is  limited  to  indentured  apprentices. 
The  door  is  not  open,  therefore,  except 
by  way  of  some  job  or  newspaper  office. 
The  city  opportunity  to  get  into  the  news- 
paper trade  through  the  mechanical  side  is 
therefore  unduly  circumscribed.  The  coun- 
try boy  is  not  held  back  by  union  restric- 
tions and  for  him  there  is  no  better  road  into 
the  trade  than  through  the  doorway  of  the 
rural  printing  office.  There  is  no  more  de- 
lightful place  to  work  than  in  such  a  shop. 

He  has  the  free  run  of  the  place  and  is 
treated  as  an  equal  by  all  hands.  He  has, 
often,  more  privileges  than  pay,  but  all  the 
same  he  is  a  mighty  important  boy.  He  is 
being  introduced  to  the  mystery  of  letters 
and  learning  to  see  life  in  all  its  aspects 
and  angles!  There  is  no  curb  on  his  energies. 
He  is  permitted  to  do  everything  from  wash- 
ing rollers  to  sweeping  out,  and  from  collect- 

34 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

ing  bills  to  picking  up  items.  He  learns  much 
from  the  printers.  The  journeyman  in  the 
smaller  office  is  usually  a  wise  fellow  who 
has  travelled  far.  There  is  something  about 
him  that  makes  him  sensitive  and  he  takes 
ready  umbrage  at  the  community  or  his  em- 
ployer and  this  keeps  him  moving.  The 
printers  scatter  widely.  Not  long  ago  I 
found  at  Barstow,  California,  on  the  edge  of 
Death  Valley,  a  printer  very  familiar  with 
New  York  offices,  who  had  drifted  about 
until  he  lodged  himself  and  a  weak  pair  of 
lungs  in  this  hole  in  the  desert  sand.  He  was 
quite  happy,  however.  He  had  seen  the 
world! 

The  printing  office  boy  has  a  higher  rank 
in  the  community  than  the  one  who  works  in 
a  store  or  factory.  Clerking  in  a  store  has 
always  been  looked  down  upon  by  those  who 
believe  in  robust  occupation,  and  working  in 
a  factory  does  not  procure  a  very  high  place 

35 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

in  the  social  scale.  The  farm  lads  are  apt 
to  be  considered  clodhoppers.  But  the  boy 
in  the  printing  office  lives  with  grownups. 
He  soon  becomes  familiar  with  the  great. 
He  knows  the  business  men,  the  politicians, 
the  lawyers  and  the  sacred  list  called  "lead- 
ing citizens."  He  is  not  engaged  in  a  sordid 
business,  but  in  a  trade  and  a  profession  com- 
bined, where  ideals  are  superior  to  money 
and  where  the  public  side  must  rule  above 
the  private  pocket.  He  is  on  terms  of  amity 
and  co-interest  with  everybody  in  the  office. 
He  is  not  chained  to  a  wheel,  or  worked  in 
a  grind.  He  has  liberty  of  thought  and  ex- 
pression. He  must  use  his  head  as  well  as 
his  hands,  always  with  the  privilege  of  going 
higher  and  further  as  his  talents  may  compel ! 
For  women,  the  trade  affords  a  number  of 
excellent  opportunities.  To  be  a  woman  re- 
porter is  not  especially  agreeable,  particu- 
larly under  direction  of  an  editor  given  to 

36 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

"  freak "  assignments.  But  the  fashion 
writer,  the  society  reporter  and  the  producer 
of  special  articles  is  well  employed.  Sala- 
ries in  the  best  places  run  from  $2000  to 
$4500  per  year.  The  woman  is  man's  equal 
on  a  newspaper  and  is  paid  what  she  earns, 
not  what  she  can  get,  as  the  rule  seems  to 
be  in  other  occupations.  The  typewriting 
machine  has  led  to  the  hiring  of  many  young 
women  in  clerical  departments  at  good  pay 
and  under  easy  working  conditions.  They 
fill  these  minor  positions,  from  which  promo- 
tion is  slow,  to  better  advantage  than  men. 
The  men  on  the  small  jobs  who  cannot  ad- 
vance, grow  less  useful  and  become  discon- 
tented as  their  years  and  needs  increase 
The  girls  get  married  and  so  give  way  to 
others. 

The  ordinary  salary  of  a  subordinate  edi- 
torial writer  in  a  Metropolitan  office  will 
range  from  $2500  to  $8000  a  year;  the  chief 

37 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

from  $10,000  to  $15,000.  The  managing 
editor's  pay  will  range  from  $7500  to 
$12,000.  Some  special  talent  is  credited  with 
earning  as  high  as  $30,000  a  year,  and  one 
exceptional  man  of  ideas  receives  $100,000 
a  year  under  an  arrangement  based  upon  a 
percentage  of  circulation  results,  tantamount 
to  a  partnership.  Country  offices  and  small 
cities  pay  much  more  modest  salaries,  but 
they  are  usually  well  abreast  of  professional 
returns;  they  equal  or  exceed  the  pay  of 
clergymen,  school  principals,  or  social 
service  employees,  and  other  intellectual 
employments. 

THE  TRADE 

THE  printing  and  publishing  business 
stands  sixth  among  the  industries  of  the 
United  States,  being  exceeded  in  output  only 
by  meat-packing,  foundries  and  machine 
shops,  lumber,  iron  and  steel  and  the  produc- 
tion of  flour  and  meal.  It  supports  under- 

38 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

lying  industries  of  much  importance,  the  first 
of  which,  of  course,  is  print  paper,  having  a 
round  annual  value  of  $90,000,000;  the 
manufacture  of  presses  and  other  forms  of 
machinery,  of  ink  and  type,  and  pays  the 
highest  average  standard  of  wages  to  he 
found  in  any  form  of  employment. 

It  remains  an  independent  industry,  its 
very  nature  forbidding  combinations  of  any 
extent,  and  providing  the  most  intense  form 
of  competition.  Its  chief  product,  the  daily 
newspaper,  sells  at  a  price,  fixed,  as  a  rule, 
by  one  or  two  of  the  smallest  coins  in  the 
republic.  That  no  publisher  purveys  his 
product  for  less  than  one  cent  is  due 
only  to  the  failure  of  the  mint  to  supply  a 
fraction!  It  has  thriven  without  the  help  of 
tariffs  or  of  any  support  other  than  that  de- 
rived from  the  direct  appeal  to  the  public, 
which  yearly  grows  more  appreciative  of  the 
services  performed  and  of  the  value  of  the 

39 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

press  as  an  informant,  educator  and  sup- 
porter of  popular  rights ! 

The  newspaper  publisher  is  quite  out  of 
the  line  of  ordinary  business.  He  does  not 
"  take  that  which  was  thine  and  make  it 
mine  "  for  a  profit.  He  does  no  merchandis- 
ing, but  must  produce  from  the  start.  He 
must  be  a  creator  and  a  seller,  but  not  a 
trafficker.  Moreover,  he  deals  in  the  most 
elusive  and  perplexing  of  all  articles — News! 
The  merchant  can  figure  on  his  values  and 
his  costs ;  he  can  reckon  his  profits  with  a  de- 
gree of  safety  and  to  an  extent  lean  upon 
the  market.  At  least  his  wares  are  sala- 
ble to-morrow,  if  not  to-day.  But  the  news- 
paper publisher  deals  entirely  in  the  perish- 
able and  does  not  know  up  to  the  hour  of 
going  to  press  what  his  wares  are  to  be !  If 
he  fails  to  make  a  true  estimate  of  news 
values  he  loses  and  success  goes  to  the  man 
who  can.  He  cannot  have  relations  with 

40 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

other  lines  of  trade  and  keep  his  paper 
strong  in  the  public  esteem.  A  demagogic 
propaganda  now  and  then  starts  out  with 
cries  against  the  "  capitalistic  press  "  when 
there  can  be  no  such  thing,  by  the  very 
nature  of  the  business.  One  newspaper  can- 
not hide  what  another  prints  and  remain 
fair  in  the  public  eye.  More  than  once  have 
"  interests  "  tried  to  bolster  up  a  waning 
sheet,  only  to  complete  its  doom.  A  success- 
ful newspaper  creates  its  own  capital:  no 
"  capital "  as  such  can  save  an  unsuccessful 
one.  A  newspaper  with  money  and  no  soul 
is  a  foreordained  failure. 

Examples  could  be  cited  in  proof  but  this 
would  be  invidious.  The  other  side  can  be 
put  in  evidence  without  offence.  James 
Gordon  Bennett  started  the  Herald  with 
$500  and  in  fifteen  months  had  a  property 
which  he  proudly  valued  at  $5000.  The 
New  York  World  struggled  for  nearly  a 

41 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

quarter  of  a  century,  until  Joseph  Pulitzer 
took  it  from  the  burdened  hands  of  Jay 
Gould,  May  10,  1883,  and  gave  journalism 
a  new  message : 

"  The  entire  World  newspaper  property 
has  been  purchased  by  the  undersigned,  and 
will,  from  this  day  on,  be  under  different 
management — different  in  men,  measures 
and  methods;  different  in  purpose,  policy 
and  principle;  different  in  objects  and  inter- 
ests; different  in  sympathies  and  convic- 
tions ;  different  in  head  and  heart. 

"  Performance  is  better  than  promise. 
Exuberant  assurances  are  cheap.  I  make 
none.  I  simply  refer  the  public  to  the  new 
World  itself,  which  henceforth  shall  be  the 
daily  evidence  of  its  own  growing  improve- 
ment, with  forty-eight  daily  witnesses  in  its 
forty-eight  columns. 

"There  is  room  in  this  great  and  growing 
city  for  a  journal  that  is  not  only  cheap,  but 

42 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

bright;  not  only  bright,  but  large;  not  only 
large,  but  truly  democratic,  dedicated  to  the 
cause  of  the  people  rather  than  that  of  purse- 
potentates,  devoted  more  to  the  news  of  the 
New  than  the  Old  World;  that  will  expose 
all  fraud  and  sham,  fight  all  public  evils  and 
abuses;  that  will  serve  and  battle  for  the 
people  with  earnest  sincerity. 

"  In  that  cause  and  for  that  end  solely  the 
new  World  is  hereby  enlisted  and  committed 
to  the  attention  of  the  intelligent  public." 

Here  was  a  code  of  journalism,  struck  off 
at  white  heat,  almost  at  the  midnight  hour  as 
the  forms  were  closing  for  the  first  issue  of 
the  new  World.  The  paper  became  profit- 
able from  that  moment.  Mr.  Pulitzer  had 
previously  combined  two  staggering  St. 
Louis  evening  papers,  the  Dispatch  and 
the  Post,  twenty- four  hours  after  he  had 
purchased  the  former,  and  success  followed 
from  the  day  of  the  union.  When  he  bought 

43 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

the  Dispatch  he  figured  that  he  had  money 
enough  to  run  it  for  fifteen  weeks!  The 
great  San  Francisco  Chronicle  was  founded 
without  money  as  a  theatrical  program  a 
little  more  than  fifty  years  ago  by  two  boys, 
Charles  and  M.  H.  De  Young.  It  literally 
made  itself  by  exhibitions  of  extraordinary 
energy  and  enterprise.  For  a  later  example 
we  have  the  Seattle  Times,  picked  up  for  a 
trifle,  by  Alden  J.  Blethen,  a  maker  of  suc- 
cessful newspapers  in  Kansas  City  and 
Minneapolis,  but  then  "  down  and  out,"  and 
well  past  his  fiftieth  year!  In  magic  time 
it  was  changed  from  a  burden  to  one  of 
the  most  profitable  publications  of  the  day. 
The  newspapers  mentioned  were  not  made 
by  patient  upbuilding  like  a  select  few,  but 
by  dash  and  vigor,  by  pushing  their  ideas 
and  energies  into  the  field  and  conquering. 
There  are  more  than  22,000  newspapers 

and  periodical  establishments  in  the  United 

44 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

States.  The  business  has  become  stabilized 
to  a  degree  but  none  the  less  continues  to 
stand  itself  apart  in  a  class  by  itself.  News- 
papers are  not  "  capitalized "  and  their 
shares  distributed  via  Wall  Street.  It  is  the 
business  of  the  individual,  with  all  the  fas- 
cination and  opportunity  that  individualism 
implies  and  affords. 

A  witness  before  a  Congressional  Com- 
mittee investigating  the  cost  of  white  paper, 
was  asked:  "  Do  you  run  your  newspapers 
for  benevolent  purposes  or  as  business  prop- 
ositions? " 

"  Most  newspapers,"  was  the  reply,  "  are 
run  by  gentlemen  who  have  sporting  blood — 
different  from  the  conductors  of  any  other 
enterprise.  They  are  all  very  much  alike. 
They  take  all  sorts  of  chances  and  do  things 
that  would  make  ordinary  business  men 
shiver." 

This  pretty  well  describes  the  successful 
40 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

newspaper  maker.  He  is  not  governed  by 
rules.  He  must  meet  conditions  as  they 
arise,  without  counting  cost  or  figuring 
profits.  If  he  is  bold  enough  and  sanguine 
enough  for  this  he  can  succeed.  It  is 
the  temperament  that  tells!  It  is  this 
liberal  and  adventurous  disposition  that  ral- 
lies other  men  and  leads  to  the  formation  of 
a  working  force  impelled  by  the  same  in- 
stincts and  these  become  irresistible  in  the 
field. 

Percentages  of  profit  in  newspaper  mak- 
ing vary  greatly  according  to  the  size  of  out- 
put and  the  proportion  of  loss  from  circu- 
lation that  must  be  charged  against  adver- 
tising revenue.  It  can  be  established,  though, 
that  in  a  community  where  newspapers  are 
managed  with  skill  and  energy,  there  will  be 
a  return  to  the  papers  of  the  town,  of  about 
$1.00  per  inhabitant.  This  does  not  mean 
such  a  return  to  each  publication,  but  the 

46 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

total  sum  which  the  population  will  give  up 
to  newspaper  profit.  That  is  to  say,  a  city 
of  100,000  people  ought  to  afford  $100,000 
in  net  return  to  be  divided  among  the  papers 
of  the  town.  This  can  happen  in  a  place 
where  there  are  one  or  more  losing  proposi- 
tions. Where  the  papers  are  earning  this 
sum  per  inhabitant  it  is  safe  to  say  a  new- 
comer will  have  a  hard  time,  but  more  than 
once  exceptional  talent  has  taken  over  a  los- 
ing sheet  and  exacted  its  share. 

Money  is  earned,  not  "  made "  in  the 
newspaper  trade.  The  business  cannot  be 
"  run  "  by  boards  and  councils.  It  must 
succeed  by  innate  energy  on  the  part  of  men 
on  the  spot.  To  decide  upon  policy  by  the 
side  of  the  "  form  "  is  something  beyond  the 
ability  of  boards  of  directors.  On  a  ship,  the 
rule  is  to  obey  the  last  order,  no  matter  what 
rank  may  be  held  by  the  man  who  gives  it. 
So  in  a  newspaper  office  where  events  are 

47 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

dealt  with.  They  control,  but  there  must  be 
talent  present,  capable  of  dealing  with  events 
and  making  the  most  of  them! 

Partisanship  no  longer  plays  any  impor- 
tant part  in  newspaper  success.  Indeed,  the 
party  paper  in  cities  of  size  is  usually  a  sad 
affair.  The  city  papers  securing  the  most 
success  are  those  of  the  independent  Demo- 
cratic type.  Cities  are  usually  Democratic, 
but  the  party  idea  is  hardly  apparent  in  the 
rule.  It  is  due  to  freer  expression  and  an 
utter  refusal  to  tie  up  to  the  fortunes  of  any 
party  or  man.  Quite  often  these  papers  are 
in  revolt  against  the  party  organization  with 
benefit  to  themselves  and  the  community. 
For  striking  examples  of  this  rule  we  have 
the  Globe  and  Post,  in  Boston;  the  World, 
Times  and  Evening  Post  in  New  York; 
the  Record  in  Philadelphia ;  the  Plain  Dealer 
in  Cleveland ;  the  Post-Dispatch  in  St.  Louis 
and  the  Examiner  in  San  Francisco.  In 
Chicago,  the  Tribune,  while  nominally  Re- 

48 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

publican,  has  a  long  record  as  an  antipro- 
tectionist  and  of  opposition  to  party.  It 
also  enjoys  conspicuous  prosperity. 

Some  survivals  of  the  early  days  had  an 
interesting  parentage.  The  daily  Eastern 
'Argus,  of  Portland,  Maine,  the  oldest  news- 
paper in  New  England  east  of  the  Connecti- 
cut River,  was  founded  in  1803  by  Nathaniel 
Willis,  father  of  N.  P.  Willis,  poet  and  edi- 
tor of  the  New  York  Mirror.  He  estab- 
lished also  the  Congregationalist,  first  named 
the  Recorder,  and  iheYouth's  Companion,  of 
Boston,  interesting  progeny,  and  lusty  after 
all  these  years! 

THE  EDITOR 

Can  he  know  all,  and  do  all,  and  be  all, 
With  cheerfulness,  courage,  and  vim? 

If  so,  we  perhaps  can  be  making   an 
Editor  "  outei?  of  him." 

— WILL  CARLETON. 

WITHOUT  an  editor  all  is  vain!     Much 

merit  as  there  is  in  a  well-organized  business 
4  49 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

office,  success  belongs  to  the  editor.  He 
makes  the  goods.  If  his  ideas  and  output 
are  not  salable  the  best  economic  manage- 
ment and  most  zealous  advertising  hunting 
fails.  To  prescribe  what  an  editor  must  be 
is  a  difficult  and  delicate  undertaking.  To 
describe  his  task  is  easier.  The  poet  whose 
lines  head  this  chapter  had  the  qualifications 
clearly  in  mind,  but  he  left  out  the  chief 
one:  Imagination!  By  this  is  not  meant 
inventiveness  but  the  possession  of  a  mental 
mirror  that  enables  him  to  see  what  is  "  in  " 
things  ahead  of  others,  so  to  grasp  and  com- 
pass them  as  to  reflect  his  vision  until  it  in- 
terests and  informs  the  multitude! 

The  gentleman  of  Wordsworth's  lines  to 
whom 

A  primrose  by  the  river's  brim 

A  yellow  primrose  was  to  him 
.  .  .  and  it  was  nothing  more, 

would    not    do    as    an    editor.     The    edi- 

50 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

tor  is  one  to  turn  the  primrose  into  decora- 
tive garlands,  into  a  bloom  rivalling  the 
orchid,  into  a  decoration  for  the  fairest 
scenes.  As  the  trade  grows  complex  he  must 
think  for  many  subordinates  and  inspire  as 
well  as  command. 

Men  have  broken  into  the  newspaper 
world  who  had  no  thought  of  business  or 
money  making,  who  felt  they  had  a  message 
to  expound  or  a  cause  to  create,  and  so  have 
founded  great  journals.  Few  newspapers 
ever  began  as  calculating  getters  of  money 
and  few  could  survive  if  this  was  their  sole 
intent.  That  money  comes  is  the  result,  not 
the  primary  purpose,  of  good  newspaper 
making. 

The  editor  in  America  has  passed  through 
two  stages  and  is  well  on  in  a  third.  The 
early  editors  were  servants  of  party.  They 
echoed  the  views  of  statesmen.  The  quarrels 
of  Hamilton  and  Jefferson,  of  Jackson  and 

51 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

the  Whigs,  were  the  themes.  Then  came  the 
period  of  personality;  Greeley,  Raymond, 
Webb  and  Weed,  Halstead,  Medill  and 
Watterson,  imposing  their  views  on  the  pub- 
lic mind.  Instead  we  have  now  a  power- 
ful impersonality.  It  is  no  longer  the 
opinion  of  the  editor  that  prevails.  It  is  the 
opinion  of  the  paper,  which  has  taken  on 
the  personality  lost  by  the  editor.  What  does 
the  World  say,  the  Times,  the  Chicago 
Tribune,  the  Evening  Post,  the  Boston 
Globe?  The  editorial  opinions  are  collected 
over  the  wire  in  the  face  of  great  events. 
Whoever  the  writer  of  the  moment  may  be, 
he  expresses  concretion,  not  the  views  of 
an  individual.  They  who  plead  for  a  return 
to  the  one-man  view  and  deride  the  "  irre- 
sponsible "  press,  "  hiding  behind  ano- 
nymity," and  urge  the  signing  of  editorial 
articles,  with  the  best  of  motives,  are  wrong, 
if  they  desire  the  real  forces  of  opinion  to 

52 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

operate.  The  view  of  one  man  so  revealed 
is  nothing  more  in  effect  than  the  view  of 
another,  except  for  the  wider  expression  at- 
tained through  the  printed  page.  It  remains 
of  no  more  potency  than  the  letters  from 
"  Veritas  "  and  "  Pro  Bono  Publico  "  in  the 
correspondence  column.  But  where  the 
paper  speaks,  the  force  it  represents  is  crys- 
tallized, the  people  and  the  politicians  know 
that  a  vast  activity  is  in  the  field  to  demand 
and  enforce.  John  Smith  writing  a  leader 
above  his  name  is  John  Smith  talking;  but 
the  leader  standing  alone  is  the  voice  of 
organized  intelligence  sending  its  message 
forcefully  and  cogently  to  the  land ! 

The  great  editor  writes  little  and  thinks 
much.  But  a  gifted  few  can  pour  out  their 
brains  in  penmanship  and  preserve  virility 
and  expression.  The  rest  must  think  before 
they  write.  Indeed,  the  greatest  of  editors 
in  the  sense  of  direction,  John  Thadeus 

53 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

Delane,  who  lifted  the  London  Times  to  its 
highest  estate,  wrote  little.  He  thought, 
directed,  and  acquired  knowledge.  He  kept 
close  to  the  inner  circles  of  government,  when 
government  had  an  importance  quite  beyond 
the  usual  American  estimate.  He  fre- 
quented the  salon  of  the  social  leader  and  the 
study  of  the  statesman.  His  views  were  ac- 
quired first  hand  and  he  spoke  always  with 
authority. 

We  have  no  such  relationships  in  these 
United  States.  The  editor  who  "keeps 
close  "  to  society  and  statesmen  soon  gets  far 
away  from  his  paper  and  its  true  purposes. 
There  probably  was  never  so  complete  a  dis- 
association  of  the  press  and  politics  as  we 
fortunately  now  enjoy  in  America.  The 
editor  edits,  untrammeled  by  the  pressure  of 
politicians  or  the  aims  of  social  leadership. 
That  extraordinary  feminine  influence  so 
strong  in  the  England  of  Delane's  day  is  and 

54 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

always  has  been  absent  from  American 
journalism.  The  American  editor  is  in- 
fluenced by  facts  and  events,  not  by  relation- 
ship or  "  pull."  Moreover,  the  greatest  and 
most  exacting  editor  cannot  be  certain  that 
his  "  page  "  will  not  be  tipped  over  before 
morning.  The  night  man  is  there  to  do  as 
he  pleases  in  most  offices.  He  is  usually  too 
busy  to  pay  attention  to  anybody. 

Until  the  great  war  broke  out  America's 
isolation  kept  the  country  out  of  world  poli- 
tics, which  were  so  great  a  part  of  Delane's 
activities.  In  American  affairs  to-day  the 
editor  does  not  "  commune  "  with  "  leaders." 
He  looks  down,  not  up,  on  statecraft  and 
politics. 

So  much  for  the  editorial  writer  and 
his  duties.  Other  editors  are  much  nearer 
the  reader  and  more  important  in  filling  his 
daily  needs — the  managing  editor,  the  news 

55 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

editor,  and  the  city  editor.  The  city  editor 
of  a  metropolitan  paper  controls  the  group 
of  reporters  who  hunt  the  news,  usually 
within  a  75-mile  radius.  Beyond  that  the 
managing  editor  rules,  with  the  aid  of  his 
associate,  the  news  editor.  This  last  named 
worker  deals  with  the  correspondents,  some 
hundreds  of  them,  at  all  points  of  the  com- 
pass, who  send  in  their  daily  queries,  for 
example,  offering  "  200  words,  cave-in,  at 
Oneonta."  He  must  judge  of  values  and 
place  the  limit.  The  building  of  a  morning 
paper  requires  a  double  force,  and  a  far 
greater  responsibility  than  in  the  evening 
edition.  Here  the  numerous  "  extras  "  and 
quick  replating  lessen  the  need  of  final  judg- 
ment. The  morning  man  fixes  his  edition  to 
"  stand."  He  only  knows  the  advantage  of 
the  other  fellow  over  him  after  he  sees  his 
product,  when  it  is  usually  too  late  for  more 
than  a  hasty  "  lift."  The  evening  man  can 

56 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

"  make  over,"  and  in  half  an  hour  few  will 
be  able  to  know  who  was  first.  It  is  a  killing 
job  getting  out  a  morning  paper  and  re- 
quires a  calmness  of  temperament  approach- 
ing the  phlegmatic,  coupled  with  quickness 
of  decision  and  soundness  of  judgment,  to  do 
the  work  and  to  meet  and  pass  the  next  day's 
criticism.  Fortunately  the  newspaper  be- 
longs to  the  family  of  the  ephemeral.  Each 
day  kills  its  predecessor's  failures — and 
merits ! 

Office  criticism  is  always  cruel.  It  is  well 
exemplified  by  the  joker  who  wrote  a  dia- 
logue something  like  this  for  a  miniature 
Chicago  Tribune  issued  to  grace  a  shop 
dinner : 

In  our  office — Managing  Editor:  Note  to 
all  the  editors—  *  Why  haven't  we  played  up 
that  dash  story?  All  the  other  papers  have 
it?" 

In  their  offices — Managing  Editor :  Note 

57 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

to  all  the  editors — "  What  did  you  play  up 
that  dash  story  for?  The  Tribune  had  sense 
enough  to  play  it  down!  " 

Upon  the  City  Editor  falls  the  dual  re- 
sponsibility of  getting  news  and  handling  a 
large  body  of  men.  To  do  so  well  he  should 
know  more  than  all  of  them  put  together. 
The  right  kind  of  a  City  Editor  must  be  a 
cross  between  a  steel  trap  and  an  encyclo- 
paedia. He  must  know  everything  and  every- 
body. A  name  must  suggest  personal 
history,  incident  and  the  past.  He  must 
understand  the  meaning  of  moves  in  all 
walks  of  life,  know  politics,  Wall  Street, 
police  annals  and  the  records  of  the  courts. 
This  he  can  acquire  only  with  the  aid  of 
time  and  an  adhesive  mentality  to  which  the 
things  will  stick.  His  telephone  is  always 
jingling.  He  cannot  have  temper  or  impa- 
tience and  he  is  always  on  trial! 

The  personal  belligerency  of  the  editor 

58 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

long  ago  passed  away.  Like  most  grades  of 
life  in  initial  stages,  fighting  was  a  needful 
quality.  George  D.  Prentice  had  his  pis- 
tols handy  in  the  Louisville  Journal  office, 
ready  to  step  to  the  sidewalk  and  meet  any 
comer  with  a  grouch.  When  the  "  fierce  " 
paragraphs  of  the  day  are  scanned  in  a 
modern  light,  one  wonders  what  there  was  in 
them  that  incited  to  murder!  The  chief  re- 
sentment seemed  to  be  that  the  editor  had  a 
thousand  tongues  and  so  did  an  extraordi- 
nary injustice  when  he  criticised  a  man  pos- 
sessing but  one.  In  the  early  days  of  the 
Cincinnati  Commercial,  Murat  Halstead 
always  kept  a  loaded  revolver  in  the  open 
drawer  of  his  desk  with  that  piece  of  furni- 
ture so  placed  as  to  command  a  view  of  the 
door.  The  weapon  lay  under  cover  of  a  half 
open  newspaper  so  adjusted  as  to  slip  off 
at  a  turn  of  the  hand  and  give  quick  access 
to  the  weapon.  The  recitation  of  editorial 

59 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

fights  is  not  edifying,  but  there  is  almost 
amusing  interest  in  the  spectacle  of  the  re- 
vered author  of  Thanatopsis,  William  Cul- 
len  Bryant,  cowhiding  William  L.  Stone, 
editor  of  the  New  York  Commercial  Adver- 
tiser, and  he  the  head  of  the  New  York 
Evening  Post!  Philip  Hone  witnessed  the 
affray,  recording  it  under  date  of  April  20, 
1831: 

"While  I  was  shaving  this  morning  at 
eight  o'clock,  I  witnessed  from  the  front 
window  an  encounter  in  the  street  nearby 
opposite,  between  William  C.  Bryant  and 
William  L.  Stone;  the  former  one  of  the 
editors  of  the  Evening  Post,  and  the  lat- 
ter editor  of  the  Commercial  Advertiser. 
The  former  commenced  the  attack  by  strik- 
ing Stone  over  the  head  with  a  cowskin ;  after 
a  few  blows  the  men  closed,  and  the  whip 
was  wrested  from  Bryant  and  carried  off  by 
Stone." 

60 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

The  warfare  between  General  James 
Watson  Webb,  of  the  Courier  and  Enquirer, 
and  James  Gordon  Bennett  of  the  New 
York  Herald,  produced  a  number  of  assaults 
by  Webb  upon  the  editor  of  the  Herald.  Mr. 
Bennett  always  wrote  full  reports  of  the  en- 
counters for  his  paper!  Here  is  a  sample 
excerpt  from  the  Herald  under  date  of  the 
tenth  of  May,  1835: 

"As  I  was  leisurely  pursuing  my  business 
yesterday  in  Wall  Street,  .  .  .  James  Wat- 
son Webb  came  up  to  me,  on  the  northern 
side  of  the  Street — said  something  which  I 
could  not  hear  distinctly,  then  pushed  me 
down  the  stone  steps  leading  to  one  of  the 
brokers'  offices,  and  commenced  fighting 
with  a  species  of  brutal  and  demoniacal  des- 
peration, characteristic  of  a  fury.  My  dam- 
age is  a  scratch,  about  three  quarters  of  an 
inch  in  length,  on  the  third  finger  of  the  left 
hand,  which  I  received  from  the  iron  railing 

61 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

I  was  forced  against,  and  three  buttons  torn 
from  my  vest,  which  any  tailor  will  reinstate 
for  a  sixpence.  His  loss  is  a  rent  from  top 
to  bottom  of  a  very  beautiful  black  coat 
which  cost  the  ruffian  $40,  and  a  blow  in  the 
face  which  may  have  knocked  down  his 
throat  some  of  his  infernal  teeth  for  anything 
I  know.  Balance  in  my  favor  $39.94." 

THE  REPORTER 

His  dealings  with  reporters  who  affect  a  weekly  bust 
Have  given  to  his  violet  eyes  a  shadow  of  distrust. 
— "  Little  Mack/'  By  EUGENE  FIELD. 

J.  B.  McCuLLAGH,  famous  as  manager  of 
the  St.  Louis  Globe  Democrat,  the  "  Little 
Mack  "  of  the  poem,  once  defined  successful 
news-getting  as  the  art  of  knowing  where 
"  hell  was  going  to  break  loose  next  and 
having  a  man  there." 

The  "  man  "  is  the  reporter  upon  whom 
falls  the  chief  burden  of  the  trade.  He  is 
ubiquitous  and  versatile,  possessing  a  heaven- 

62 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

born  quality  called  "  the  nose  for  news." 
Like  much  talent  in  other  lines  it  may  lie 
latent,  awaiting  some  discoverer,  but  once 
made  known  it  flourishes.  The  "  nose  for 
news  "  is  a  very  real,  but  scarce  and  most 
valuable  proboscis!  Under  present-day 
workings,  the  writing  side  is  the  least  of  the 
newspaper's  troubles.  Re-write  men  and 
trained  copy  readers  shape  up  the  stuff. 
The  problem  is  to  get  it.  That  is  the 
reporter's  job. 

Dr.  Talcott  Williams,  Dean  of  the  School 
of  Journalism  at  Columbia  University,  New 
York,  gives  an  apt  illustration  of  the  lack- 
ing sense.  The  "  kid  "  reporter  sent  out 
from  the  office  of  the  Philadelphia  Press  to 
"  cover  "  three  assignments  turned  in  two  at 
the  night  desk  and  was  departing  for  home 
when  the  Night  City  Editor,  checking  up  his 
schedule,  asked  for  a  report  on  the  third — a 
wedding.  "  Oh,"  said  the  boy,  "  there  wasn't 

63 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

anything  to  write.    There  wasn't  any  wed- 
ding.   The  bridegroom  didn't  show  up !  " 

Here  is  the  lesson  of  "knowing  news." 
Next  to  knowing  news  it  is  important  to 
know  how  to  write  it.  That  can  be  taught. 
Indeed,  I  got  my  first  knowledge  from 
Simeon  Drake,  who  instructed  me  in  the 
printer's  trade  in  the  old  Advertiser  office  at 
Norway,  Maine.  I  was  printer's  "devil," 
but  as  I  worked  for  nothing  and  boarded 
myself,  my  liberty  was  considerable  and  my 
privileges  many.  Uncle  Sim  wanted  items. 
He  thought  a  boy  who  loafed  around  as 
much  as  I  did  ought  to  pick  up  a  few.  I 
rather  timidly  thought  so,  too,  but  effort 
soon  showed  that  the  picking  was  bad.  For 
the  life  of  me  I  couldn't  see  anything  or  hear 
of  anything  in  Norway  worth  printing.  But 
during  six  unfruitful  weeks'  search  an  item 
had  been  rapidly  growing  in  the  garden  next 
door.  Uncle  Granville  Reed's  two  hills  of 

64 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

Southern  corn  had  hustled  until  the  tallest 
stalk  was  thirteen  feet  high.  Like  a  flash 
the  importance  of  the  event  possessed  me 
and  I  sat  down  to  "  write  it  up."  Try  as  I 
would,  I  could  not  seem  to  get  the  words  to- 
gether, and  finally  the  struggle  resulted  in  a 
measly  little  paragraph  to  the  effect  that 
"  Granville  Reed  had  a  stalk  of  Southern 
corn  in  his  garden  thirteen  feet  high."  When 
I  handed  it  in  Mr.  Drake  looked  at  it  criti- 
cally, took  off  his  glasses  and  looked  at  it 
again,  cleared  his  throat  a  couple  of  times 
and  then  taught  me  my  first  and  funda- 
mental lesson  in  journalism,  big  or  little. 

"You  don't  say  who  Mr.  Reed  is,"  he 
began,  "  you  don't  tell  us  where  he  lives  and 
you  don't  make  any  point  that  is  compli- 
mentary to  him." 

Mr.  Drake  rarely  wrote  anything,  but  set 
his  matter  up  out  of  his  head  from  a  much 
used  case  of  bourgeois.  In  a  few  minutes 

5  65 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

he  gave  me  the  item  to  read  in  the  composing 
stick.  In  its  new  form  it  ran  something 
like  this: 

"  Former  Selectman  Granville  Reed  has 
an  agricultural  wonder  growing  in  his  well- 
kept  garden  on  upper  Main  street  in  the 
shape  of  a  stalk  of  corn  which  under  his 
able  attention  has  gained  the  extraordinary 
height  of  thirteen  feet." 

"  You  will  notice,"  he  said  gently,  "  that 
I  have  cut  out  the  word  '  Southern '  before 
'  corn.'  Southern  corn  ought  to  be  thirteen 
feet  high." 

Here  it  was  all  in  a  nutshell!  State  the 
facts,  nothing  but  the  facts,  but  state  all  of 
them  attractively  and  if  possible  amazingly. 
There  is  interest  in  almost  everything,  and 
it  is  the  newspaper  maker's  business  to  find 
it  and  make  it  plain  to  his  readers.  He  who 
does  this  has  succeeded. 

The   late   Professor   Thomas   Davidson, 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

most  learned  of  men,  once  asked  Joseph 
Pulitzer  why  he  was  so  tolerant  and  kindly 
toward  reporters  and  so  severe  in  his  judg- 
ment of  editors. 

"  Because,"  he  replied,  "  a  reporter  is 
always  a  hope  and  an  editor  always  a  dis- 
appointment." 

One  reason  for  the  frequent  truth  of  the 
epigram  was  that  too  often  a  good  reporter 
had  been  taken  from  the  task  for  which  he 
was  so  well  fitted  and  made  an  editor  with 
disappointing  results.  It  is  not  given  man 
to  possess  too  many  perfections.  The  good 
news-getter  is  not  always  a  good  writer,  and 
less  often  a  good  administrator.  To  reward 
the  reporter  with  a  deserved  promotion  too 
frequently  lands  him  in  failure  and  disrepute. 

From  twenty  to  thirty  in  the  life  of  a 
man,  no  more  agreeable  profession  can  be 
selected  for  him  who  has  the  instinct  for  news- 
getting  and  the  itch  to  write.  The  rewards 

67 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

are  considerable.  For  a  reporter  succeeds 
from  the  outset.  He  "  makes  good  "  or  fails 
promptly.  His  is  not  the  experience  of  the 
young  lawyer,  doctor  or  business  man, 
slowly  picking  up  his  load.  He  reaches  his 
task  full  grown  or  not  at  all.  True,  he  can 
find  lodgement  in  certain  lines  of  mediocrity, 
but  if  he  has  it  in  him  to  be  a  reporter  of 
merit,  the  fact  is  soon  revealed  and  at  once 
rewarded.  But  as  it  is  a  form  of  precocity 
the  end  comes  sooner  than  in  other  lines. 
For  being  a  reporter  is  eminently  a  young 
man's  job.  He  is  always  on  assignments. 
Home  ties  are  scant  and  friends  few.  He 
must  ever  be  alert  and  at  the  command 
of  the  relentless  "  desk."  One  assignment 
rules  until  it  is  supplanted  by  another.  He 
has  no  hours,  but  must  be  ready  on  call. 
The  dailies  grant  each  man  his  day  off,  but 
it  is  often  intruded  upon  and  the  sense  of 
responsibility  is  always  with  him.  He  must 

68 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

learn  to  write  accurately  without  revision 
and  to  think  ahead  of  his  pen.  His  person- 
ality is  ordinarily  hidden,  though  most  news- 
papers now  make  known  the  men  who  do 
unusual  things. 

What  are  the  rewards?  Well,  they  are 
worth  while.  Pay  in  the  large  offices  will 
run  from  $3000  to  $6000  and  even  occasion- 
ally to  $10,000  a  year  for  men  who  can  dis- 
cover news  and  write  it  effectively.  That 
greatest  of  American  reporters,  James 
Creelman,  rarely  received  less  than  the  lat- 
ter sum.  The  making  of  valuable  acquaint- 
ances is  an  important  factor.  It  has  led  to 
the  graduating  of  many  reporters  into  other 
lines  of  success. 

There  is  always  a  chance  for  promotion 
outside  of  the  profession,  if  the  inside  fails 
to  open  up.  Bankers,  railroads  and  great 
corporations  have  recruited  much  brain  force 
from  the  ranks  of  the  reporters. 

69 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

In  our  earlier  journalism  of  opinion  and 
partisanship  the  reporter  had  but  a  small 
place.  His  efforts  to  relate  anything  outside 
of  a  court  proceeding  or  a  political  convention 
were  resented  bitterly  and  offensively.  He 
was  regarded  as  a  sneak,  as  an  impertinent  in- 
truder, where  he  endeavored  to  get  the  facts 
of  personal  or  social  matters.  Crime  was  his 
only  legitimate  concern. 

*  You  fellows  thrive  on  calamity,"  once 
said  old  Commodore  Fillebrown,  Command- 
ant of  the  Brooklyn  Navy  Yard,  to  me  when 
I  was  trying  to  get  at  the  facts  of  the 
Greely  Arctic  disaster.  He  really  thought 
the  cannibalism  and  tragic  story  of  the  luck- 
less expedition  was  none  of  a  newspaper's 
business.  Indeed,  all  was  suppressed  until 
Tracy  Greaves,  a  New  York  Times  reporter, 
picked  a  chance  word  from  a  sailor's  lips 
and  let  in  the  light.  This  was  as  late  as  1884 ! 
But  in  earlier  days  few  doors  opened  to 

70 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

the  reporter.  New  York  was  particularly 
repelling.  James  Gordon  Bennett,  the 
elder,  wrote  all  of  the  Herald's  contents  at 
itsNstart  in  1835.  He  devoted  his  news-get- 
ting mainly  to  Wall  Street.  The  social  news 
was  mostly  mockery  of  events  to  which  he 
was  not  invited.  But  people  bought  the 
Herald  for  these  satirical  glimpses  of  what 
was  going  on.  In  due  time  reporters  were 
added,  and  added,  until  there  was  a  "  staff," 
the  first  to  be  had  by  any  newspaper  in 
America.  ,  Then  the  "  staff  "  began  to  de- 
mand admission  at  social"  and  semi-social 
affairs — to  such  purpose  that  at  last  a 
Herald  reporter  was  actually  admitted  to 
Henry  I.  Brevoort's  fancy  dress  ball,  the 
social  event  of  the  period.  Let  Philip  Hone, 
in  his  celebrated  diary,  reveal  the  horror  of 
it  all!  Writing  under  date  of  February  25, 
1840,  of  "the  great  affair,"  of  which  he 

makes  a  very  tolerable  report  himself,  and 

71 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

where  he  appeared  as  Cardinal  Wolsey  "  in 
a  grand  robe  of  new  scarlet  merino,"  he  says : 
"  Some  surprise  was  expressed  at  seeing 
in  the  crowd  a  man  in  the  habit  of  a  knight 
in  armour,  a  Mr.  Attree,  reporter  and  one 
of  the  editors  of  an  infamous  paper  called 
the  Herald.  Bennett,  the  principal  edi- 
tor, called  upon  Mr.  Brevoort  to  obtain  per- 
mission for  this  person  to  be  present  to 
report  in  his  paper  an  account  of  the  ball. 
He  consented,  as  I  believe  I  should  have 
done  under  the  same  circumstances,  as  by 
doing  it  a  sort  of  obligation  was  imposed 
upon  him  to  refrain  from  abusing  the  house, 
the  people  of  the  house,  and  their  guests 
which  would  have  been  done  in  case  of  a 
denial.  But  this  is  a  hard  alternative;  to 
submit  to  this  kind  of  surveillance  is  getting 
to  be  intolerable  and  nothing  but  the  force  of 
public  opinion  will  correct  the  insolence, 
which,  it  is  to  be  feared,  will  never  be  applied 

72 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

as  long  as  Mr.  Charles  A.  Davis  and  other 
gentlemen  make  this  Mr.  Attree  *  hail  fel- 
low, well  met,'  as  they  did  on  this  occasion? 
Whether  the  notice  they  took  of  him,  and 
that  which  they  extend  to  Bennett  when  he 
shows  his  ugly  face  in  Wall  Street,  may  be 
considered  approbatory  of  the  daily  slanders 
and  unblushing  impudence  of  the  paper  they 
conduct,  or  is  intended  to  purchase  their  for- 
bearance toward  themselves,  the  effect  is 
equally  mischievous.  It  affords  them  coun- 
tenance and  encouragement  and  they  find 
that  the  more  personalities  they  have  in  their 
papers,  the  more  they  sell!  " 

Sad  enough!  Yet  the  day  after  the  ball 
Mr.  Hone  wrote  himself  down  as  bad  as  the 
rest  of  the  curious-minded  public  whom  Mr. 
Bennett  sought  to  capture  when  he  pencilled 
this  note  in  his  diary: 

"  The  Herald  of  this  morning  contains  a 

long  account  of  the  ball,  with  a  diagram  and 

73 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

description  of  Mr.  Brevoort's  house;  but,  as 
it  was  an  implied  condition  of  the  reporter's 
admission  that  it  should  be  decent,  it  was 
tame,  flat  and  tasteless!  " 

A  far  cry  from  this  to  1894,  when  Ward 
McAllister,  arbiter  of  the  "  400  "  at  Mrs. 
Astor's  famous  ball,  became  a  writer  on 
social  topics  for  the  New  York  World! 

It  took  many  years  for  this  umbrage  at 
the  reporting  of  social  events  to  wear  off  and 
make  the  reporter  welcome.  Indeed,  there  is 
one  place  yet  on  the  map  where  it  is  not  even 
now  permitted  to  record  a  social  event, 
though  the  editors  and  owners  of  the  papers 
may  be  among  those  present.  That  is 
Charleston,  S.  C.,  which  possesses  in  the 
News  and  Courier  the  oldest  newspaper  in 
continuous  publication  in  America. 

Yet  the  reporter  can  be  truly  credited 
with  performing  a  great  public  service  in 
these  United  States.  He  has  destroyed  aris- 

74 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

tocracy.  His  eager  search  for  the  interest- 
ing, his  desire  to  reveal  the  notable,  whether 
it  be  in  an  extravagant  social  function,  the 
bride's  costume,  or  the  habits  of  the  rich,  has 
resulted  in  a  universal  levelling.  This  is  a 
truly  democratic  country  to-day,  and  it  is  so 
because  the  reporter  has  banished  mystery 
and  made  all  men  and  all  things  appear  as 
they  really  are! 

Nor  is  there  longer  "  impertinence  "  or 
"  intrusion."  Sensible  people  know  the 
value  of  publicity.  Honest  folk  welcome  it. 
The  society  reporter  instead  of  being  re- 
pelled is  overworked. 

"  But  how  can  I  become  a  reporter? "  is 
one  question  often  asked  of  a  newspaper 
manager.  About  the  best  way  is  to  hang 
around  until  the  City  Editor  is  able  to  "  see  " 
you,  or  until  you  are  convinced  that  he  can't. 
"  Bring  in  an  item,"  is  the  best  introduction. 

A  newspaper  office  is  a  place  of  chance.    Be- 

75 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

ing  on  the  spot  is  the  surest  way  to  secure 
consideration. 

Many  great  reporters  and  great  men  were 
to  be  found  on  the  staff  of  the  New  York 
Sun  in  the  Dana  days.  One  of  these,  who 
afterwards  became  a  first  citizen  of  the  city, 
got  on  the  staff  in  this  fashion:  Tiring  of 
college  at  Cornell,  he  came  to  New  York 
with  the  help  of  $10,  borrowed  from 
William  O.  Wyckoff,  then  an  Ithacan 
stenographer,  later  to  become  the  head  of 
the  great  Remington  typewriter  firm  of 
Wyckoff,  Seamans  and  Benedict,  with  let- 
ters to  the  managing  editor  and  the  chief  of 
the  Sun's  staff.  He  first  attacked  the  man- 
aging editor.  Nothing  to  be  had,  perhaps 
the  chief  had  something;  would  like  to 
oblige  the  introducer,  but  just  couldn't.  An 
interview  with  the  chief  produced  the  same 
result,  with  a  kindly  reference  back  to  the 
managing  editor. 

76 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

Now  if  he  had  been  an  ordinary  young 
man  he  would  have  gone  away.  He  was  not. 
The  next  day  at  office  hours  he  dropped  into 
the  Sun  factory  and  took  a  vacant  desk  and 
began  scribbling.  There  are  always  vacant 
desks  in  the  City  room.  Pretty  soon  the 
managing  editor  came  in  and  gave  him  a 
friendly  nod;  later  the  great  editor,  who 
noted  with  pleasure  that  the  boy  had  "  found 
something."  Presently  all  the  reporters  were 
sent  out  on  one  errand  or  another.  The 
managing  editor  stuck  his  head  out  of  his 
cage  and  looked  about.  Seeing  no  one  but 
the  adventurer  he  asked  if  he  was  free.  He 
was.  "  Well,  take  this."  He  "  took  "  it,  got 
it — and  was  on  the  staff  as  long  as  he  cared 
to  stay! 

John  N.  Bogart,  eminent  as  the  city  edi- 
tor of  the  Sun,  got  his  start  by  applying  in 
writing  to  Amos  J.  Cummings  and  enclos- 
ing a  photo. 

77 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

It  had  been  hand-colored  and  showed  him 
wearing  a  red  necktie  and  a  green  vest.  Mr. 
Cummings  thought  a  man  daring  enough  to 
be  so  garbed,  and  proud  of  it,  would  do. 
He  did! 

Mr.  Cummings,  who  was  himself  a  master 
reporter,  made  his  start  on  the  Tribune.  He 
had  been  one  of  Walker's  filibusters  in  the 
last  luckless  expedition  to  Nicaragua  and 
then  went  into  the  Northern  Army,  serving 
through  the  war.  When  mustered  out  he 
applied  to  Horace  Greeley  in  person  for  a 
job.  Mr.  Greeley  was  in  a  temper  and 
"  d — d  sick,"  as  he  expressed  it,  of  the  place- 
seeking  soldiers.  He  said  he  couldn't  hire 
the  whole  blamed  army,  which  seemed  to  be 
pestering  him  for  places.  Amos  persisted, 
saying  he  needed  work  badly.  "  Show  me 
some  good  reason!  "  squeaked  the  great  edi- 
tor. Amos  stepped  back,  turned  about  and 

gracefully  parting  the  tails  of  his  army  coat 

78 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

revealed  ample  evidence  for  need  of  employ- 
ment. He  was  set  to  work  and  soon  had  a 
whole  pair  of  trousers !  The  greatest  assign- 
ment ever  given  a  reporter  was  that  curt 
word  of  James  Gordon  Bennett  the  younger, 
to  Henry  M.  Stanley:  "  Go  and  find  Living- 
stone!" He  went,  found  him  and  opened 
Africa  to  the  world!  Stanley's  name  stands 
at  the  head  of  the  legion  of  newspaper 
writers.  In  after  years  he  became  very  often 
the  pursued  instead  of  the  pursuer. 

Some  short  time  following  his  marriage 
to  Miss  Dorothy  Tennant,  an  evil  rumor 
reached  the  Paris  Herald  that  there  was 
some  infelicity.  It  was  not  true.  Stanley 
and  his  bride  were  located  at  a  quiet  resort 
in  the  Tyrol.  Aubrey  Stanhope,  the  best 
man  on  the  staff,  was  forthwith  hurried  away 
to  interrogate  the  explorer.  He  knew  the 
temper  of  the  man  and  was  quite  aware  of 
the  bad  taste  of  his  mission.  But  he  obeyed 

79 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

orders  and  in  due  season  came  into  the  pres- 
ence of  Bula  Matari.  The  "  Breaker  of  the 
Path  "  was  very  glad  to  see  him.  It  was 
lonely  at  the  hotel,  Mrs.  Stanley  was  ill  and 
in  retirement.  The  great  man  had  no  one 
to  talk  to.  For  two  days  he  poured  out  his 
feelings.  Then  he  said,  "  I've  been  very 
selfish,  Stanhope,  done  all  the  talking  and 
haven't  given  you  a  chance.  Come,  now,  tell 
me  what  you  are  after.  Is  it  Africa?  " 

Poor  Aubrey  summoned  all  his  resolution. 
"  No,  Mr.  Stanley,"  he  said  desperately.  "It 
isn't  Africa.  Do  you  beat  your  wife?  " 

JJnder  his  breath  he  added:  "Now  kill 
me."  He  saw  Stanley's  fingers  tighten  into 
the  palms  of  his  hands,  and  prepared  for  the 
worst.  The  fingers  relaxed  as  the  explorer 
gasped:  "  God!  I  used  to  do  that  myself!  " 

Resourcefulness  is  a  very  necessary  re- 
portorial  attribute.  I  know  of  no  better  ex- 
ample than  one  afforded  by  Henry  L.  Terry, 

80 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

a  very  able  member  of  the  craft.  When 
night  city  editor  of  the  New  York  Recorder, 
I  sent  him  to  Bloomingdale  asylum  to  verify 
a  tip  that  a  patient  had  been  scalded  to  death 
in  an  overheated  bath.  It  was  nine  at  night 
when  he  reached  the  asylum,  so  he  was 
denied  admission.  Going  to  another  en- 
trance he  gave  such  an  effective  imitation  of 
an  escaped  lunatic  who  wanted  to  get  back 
that  he  was  admitted,  taken  to  the  superin- 
tendent and — got  the  story! 

The  political  reporter  has  perhaps  the 
most  satisfactory  assignment  and  is  most 
likely  to  earn  promotion  to  the  rank  of  cor- 
respondent at  the  State  or  the  National  Capi- 
tal. His  occupation  brings  him  into  close 
contact  with  men  of  affairs  and  is  free  from 
the  irksomeness  of  routine. 

"  Shakspeer,"  sagely  observed  Mr.  Arte- 
mus  Ward  in  his  celebrated  essay  on 

"  Forts  "  "  rote  good  plase,  but  he  wouldn't 
6  si 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

have  succeeded  as  a  Washington  correspon- 
dent of  a  New  York  daily  paper.  He  lack't 
the  rekesit  fancy  and  imagginashun." 

This  is  a  pretty  high  tribute,  but,  jesting 
aside,  the  place  calls  for  great  talent  and 
usually  secures  it  from  the  ranks  of  the 
working  reporters.  To  know  men,  politics, 
government,  ambassadors  and  the  compli- 
cations of  parties  is  to  know  much  and  to 
enjoy  the  knowledge  more! 

THE  READER 

THE  reader  of  the  newspaper  in  America 
is  a  legion.  He  is  closely  followed  up  by  the 
editor  and  publisher,  morning,  noon  and 
night,  with  an  extra  allowance  on  Sunday. 
Such  an  appetite  as  never  Gargantua  had  is 
that  of  the  American  for  news!  "  Every- 
body reads  the  papers — nobody  believes 
them  "  a  cynic  wrote,  most  untruthfully,  for 
the  reader  can  do  little  else  than  believe  the 

82 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

paper  if  he  is  to  believe  anything.  The  silly 
idea  that  a  crowded  sheet  can  spare  the  room 
for  idle  deception,  or  that  its  conductors  are 
foolish  enough  to  believe  that  invention  is 
more  important  than  facts,  obtains  in  some 
higher  intellectual  circles,  among  men 
whose  learning  should  teach  them  to  know 
better.  That  they  do  not  is  a  reflection  upon 
them — not  upon  the  hurried,  zealous  news- 
paper diligently  endeavoring  to  be  first  with 
its  wares. 

Perhaps  this  careless  characterization  is  a 
relic  of  the  newspaper  in  days  when  news 
was  scarce  and  communication  slow  and 
talent  expressed  itself  in  fancies.  The  cele- 
brated moon  hoax,  perpetrated  by  Richard 
Adams  Locke  in  the  New  York  Sun,  in 
1835,  purporting  to  be  taken  from  an  ad- 
vance supplement  of  the  Edinburgh  Philo- 
sophical Journal,  was  the  finest  example  of 
this  form  of  fooling.  It  was  a  work  of 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

genius,  causing  a  great  sensation,  telling,  as 
it  most  solemnly  did,  of  the  goings  on  aboard 
our  celestial  neighbor,  as  "  revealed  "  by  the 
mighty  telescope  shortly  before  installed  by 
Sir  John  F.  W.  Herschel  at  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope! 

Beyond  this  romance,  so  well  done  as  to 
live  in  book  form  to  this  day,  the  papers 
padded  themselves  with  much  useless 
opinion  and  extended  theorizing,  especially 
in  extracting  "  significance  "  from  politics 
and  guessing  at  the  doings  of  circles  from 
which  they  were  excluded.  The  welcoming 
of  the  press  was  anything  but  cordial,  and 
for  much  that  was  printed  the  keyhole  and 
the  back  stairs  were  credited  as  the  source 
and  the  purveyor  of  the  information  was 
regarded  as  a  low  person.  The  Right  of 
Publicity  had  a  long  journey  before  it  se- 
cured recognition! 

The  church,  government  and  trade  alike 

84 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

frowned  upon  the  inquisitive  and  inform- 
ing printed  sheet.  When  James  Franklin 
established  his  Courant  in  Boston,  1720-21, 
he  was  soon  in  jail  as  the  result  of  expressing 
opinions  offensive  to  the  authorities,  in  which 
he  was  abetted  by  his  mischievous  brother 
Benjamin,  destined  to  become  the  first  real 
editor  in  America,  combining  wit,  wisdom, 
great  intelligence  and  boldness  of  opinion 
with  a  commanding  style  of  expression. 

Therefore  as  the  voice  of  the  people,  the 
relation  of  the  paper  to  its  reader  is  intimate 
and  one  of  confidence.  It  is  fashionable  with 
certain  types  of  moralists  to  decry  the  press 
and  to  insist  it  should  limit  its  expressions  to 
things  the  moralist  thinks  the  public  ought 
to  know,  with  the  idea  of  protecting  virtue 
by  suppressing  knowledge  of  sin.  The  de- 
cent newspaper — and  I  know  of  few  that 
is  not — does  sift  its  news,  which  is  quite 
another  matter  from  either  suppression  or 

85 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

repression.  It  does  not  pander  and  it  tries 
to  adjust  news  values  to  fit  the  comprehen- 
sion of  its  constituency,  not  to  place  a  limit 
upon  what  it  should  know. 

What  does  a  newspaper  ever  print  that  is 
worse  than  what  the  public  does?  It  is  not 
the  thief,  the  murderer,  the  forger,  the 
speculator,  the  eloper,  or  the  corporation 
lawyer!  It  is  a  plain  recorder  of  events, 
good  or  evil,  not  the  creator  or  adjuster  of 
them! 

Certain  types  of  popular  journals  have 
come  under  criticism  for  the  use  of  huge 
headlines,  red  ink  and  large  pictures.  There 
is  a  real  reason  behind  all  three.  Most  minds 
are  rudimentary  and  where  the  foreign  lan- 
guage element  is  great  a  few  words  in  big 
type,  with  pictorial  accompaniment  make  for 
quick  comprehension.  The  critic  should  look 
at  the  old  primers  where  the  familiar  ax  was 
depicted  to  emphasize  the  first  letter  of  the 

86 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

alphabet  upon  the  juvenile  mind,  or  the 
common  cat  to  render  "  c  "  intelligible.  No 
child  ever  yet  liked  to  read  a  book  that  failed 
to  contain  pictures.  As  for  red  it  is  the  most 
popular  of  colors  and  strikes  the  eye  as  does 
no  other! 

It  is  easy  to  understand,  therefore,  why  a 
sheet,  seemingly  "  loud  "  in  tone  because  of 
headlines  and  make-up,  will  be  found  quite 
mild  in  contents  when  subjected  to  analysis. 
Some  of  the  publications  most  lurid  in  head- 
lines have  a  very  meek  assemblage  of  read- 
ing matter,  and  a  high  moral  tone  in  thought. 
They  are  made  for  the  simpler  strata  and 
succeed  in  proportion.  That  they  graduate 
readers  to  the  conservative  and  better  man- 
nered papers  is  an  undoubted  fact,  but  the 
evolution  upward  is  slow.  The  "  best " 
newspapers  have  the  smallest  circulations! 

The  paper  produced  for  the  rudimentary 
minds  is  a  valuable  connecting  link,  too, 

87 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

between  the  foreigners  groping  for  know- 
ledge and  the  thorough-going  American 
press.  The  circulation  of  foreign  language 
newspapers  in  this  country  is  very  great. 
In  New  York  it  is  formidable.  There  are 
not  less  than  1,200,000  copies  of  issues  in 
alien  tongues  produced  each  day  in  that 
city— 600,000  Jewish;  250,000  German; 
200,000  Italian  and  at  least  150,000  in  other 
tongues,  ranging  from  Greek  to  Croatian, 
These  papers  will  flourish  for  a  generation 
at  least,  perhaps  longer,  particularly  those 
in  the  Yiddish  text  where  for  racial  and  re- 
ligious reasons  their  readers  keep  themselves 
apart  in  the  community.  The  easily  read 
papers  in  English  are  the  best  mediums  for 
beating  down  the  hold  of  the  foreign  lan- 
guage papers,  supplying  as  they  do  a  readily 
understood  expression  of  events.  They  flux 
the  melting  pot! 

Following  the  complaint  against  the  brisk, 

88 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

but  lightly  made  sheets  is  the  clamor  against 
the  popular  Sunday  papers  and  their  varied 
components,  particularly  the  comic  supple- 
ments! As  the  inventor  of  the  Sunday  comic 
and  so  incidentally  the  parent  of  "  yellow  " 
journalism  I  may  be  pardoned  a  line  of  his- 
tory. In  1893  the  New  York  World  had  in- 
stalled thefirst  color  press  in  America  adapted 
to  newspaper  printing.  It  was  built  by  the 
Walter  Scott  Company,  of  Plainfield,  New 
Jersey,  and  was  an  excellent  machine.  It 
lacked,  or  was  thought  to  lack,  capacity  for 
large  editions,  and  another  machine,  con- 
structed by  R.  Hoe  &  Company,  was  in- 
stalled. The  latter  lay  idle  for  months  and 
the  former  was  used  usually  to  daub  bits  of 
color  on  the  face  of  a  local  supplement — 
little  city  scenes  like  the  flower  market  in 
Union  Square.  No  results  were  visible  in 
circulation  and  the  cost  was  considerable. 
Coming  into  the  mechanical  and  business  de- 

89 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

partments,  after  a  ten-year  journey  through 
the  reportorial  and  editorial  side,  I  had  often 
noted  the  popular  craving  for  amusement, 
the  almost  pathetic  desire  to  see  something 
funny,  and  I  urged  that  the  color  presses  be 
set  to  producing  a  "  comic "  sheet.  Mr. 
Pulitzer,  absent  in  Europe,  cabled  the  single 
word  "  experiment,"  so,  with  an  equipment 
consisting  of  Frederick  A.  Duneka,  for  long 
and  now  the  head  of  Harper  &  Brothers,  a 
pair  of  shears,  and  Walt  McDougall,  the 
cartoonist,  the  "experiment"  began.  The  im- 
mediate effect  was  to  send  the  paper  from 
the  quarter  million  class,  where  it  had  long 
lodged,  into  the  half  million,  where  it  has 
since  remained,  in  the  teeth  of  tremendous 
competition. 

The  "  yellow "  phase  developed  when 
William  J.  Kelly,  the  pressman,  whose 
knowledge  of  color  printing  had  been  ob- 
tained printing  specimen  books  for  George 

90 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

Mather's  Sons,  the  ink  makers,  complained 
that  he  could  get  no  results  from  the  wishy- 
washy  tints  turned  out  by  the  art  depart- 
ment and  begged  for  some  solid  colors. 
About  this  time  R.  F.  Outcault,  a  clever 
youth  from  Sandusky,  Ohio,  who  had  re- 
cently invaded  New  York,  turned  in  to  the 
Sunday  editor,  then  Arthur  Brisbane,  sev- 
eral black  and  white  drawings,  depicting 
child-life  in  a  tenement  district  called 
"  Hogan's  Alley."  I  carried  Kelly's  kick  to 
C.  W.  Saalburg,  the  colorist  who  was  paint- 
ing the  key  plate  of  the  "Alley,"  and  being 
of  quick  understanding  said:  "All  right, 
I'll  make  that  kid's  dress  solid  yellow!" 
Suiting  the  action  to  the  word  he  dipped  his 
brush  in  yellow  pigment  and  "  washed  "  the 
"kid."  For  once  Kelly  was  right.  The 
"  solid  color  "  stood  out  above  all  the  colors 
in  the  comic.  The  "  yellow  kid  "  arrived. 
The  success  of  the  series  led  to  the  capture  of 

91 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

Mr.  Outcault  by  the  rival  Journal  newly 
revived  by  William  R.  Hearst,  and  to  a  for- 
tune for  the  artist.  The  rivalry  resulting,  for 
the  World's  "  kid  "  was  long  continued  by 
George  B.  Luks,  since  a  notable  American 
painter,  and  stamped  "  yellow  "  on  an  en- 
terprise that  is  now  common  to  all  news- 
papers. The  wide  use  of  Sunday  comics  has 
vindicated  the  inventor's  idea  that  there  was 
an  intense  desire  for  amusement  in  the  land 
— whatever  the  Sunday-school  teachers  may 
think. 

The  idle  chance  that  opened  the  door  of 
success  for  Outcault  had  a  parallel  in  the 
New  York  Herald  office,  where  Carl 
Schultze,  "  Bunny,"  a  Kentucky  artist,  pre- 
sented himself  with  a  comic  series  showing 
the  antics  of  two  small  boys  in  playing  tricks 
on  Grandpa.  William  J.  Guard,  editor  of 
the  supplement,  said  that  if  the  artist  would 
reverse  the  idea  he  would  try  it  out.  Schultze 

92 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

did  so.  When  the  first  plate  came  to  the 
form  no  caption  had  been  sent  up  with  it. 
Called  upon  suddenly  to  furnish  a  "  line  " 
Mr.  Guard,  inspired  by  the  presence  in  a 
local  theatre  of  Jerome  Sykes  as  "  Foxy 
Quiller,"  wrote  "Foxy  Grandpa."  Fame 
followed  for  "  Bunny,"  with  a  comfortable 
financial  reward  and  much  circulation  for  the 
Herald.  Bought  for  the  Journal  by  Mr. 
Hearst  the  idea  had  extended  success  in  a 
wider  circle. 

The  Sunday  paper  is  a  sort  of  depart- 
ment store  in  journalism.  Its  large  circula- 
tion enforces  size,  because  it  must  cover 
many  things  to  interest  so  great  a  constitu- 
ency with  its  vast  variations  in  taste. 

Curiously,  the  attacks  on  the  Sunday  papers 
had  little  or  no  effect  on  circulation,  but  the 
outdoor  habit  brought  on  by  the  bicycle  and 
continued  by  the  automobile  and  the  golf 
course,  affected  it  greatly.  Before  the  bicy- 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

cle  came  a  rainy  Sunday  meant  a  poor  sale. 
After  the  wheel  craze  began,  a  rainy  Sun- 
day meant  an  increase  of  perhaps  50,000  cir- 
culation to  all  the  Sunday  papers  in  New 
York  and  a  bright  day  a  corresponding  fall- 
ing off.  People  who  may  buy  entertainment 
in  bad  weather,  head  for  out  o'doors  in  fair. 

The  old-fashioned  editor  tried  to  be  loyal 
to  the  subscriber  and  catered  to  his  feelings 
instead  of  compelling  him  to  be  loyal  to  the 
editor.  Fear  of  the  subscriber  was  a  griev- 
ous editorial  weakness.  Incidentally,  here  is 
a  good  story  in  point : 

When  Robert  H.  Davis,  the  editor  and 
playwright,  was  a  boy  he  served  as  printer's 
devil  in  the  office  of  the  Carson,  Nevada, 
Appeal;  of  which  his  brother  Sam  was  editor. 
Late  one  night  as  they  were  rattling  the 
modest  edition  off  on  the  Washington  hand- 
press,  a  shabby  little  man  crept  in  and  asked 
if  there  were  any  old  clothes  about  that  "  a 

94 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

feller  "  might  have.  The  hooks  in  the  rear 
office  were  full  of  garments  discarded  by 
tramp  printers  after  picking  up  a  couple  of 
weeks'  pay.  He  was  told  to  help  himself. 
Shortly  he  came  back  to  the  press  side  com- 
paratively transformed  and  watched  the 
operations  of  the  clumsy  machine  curiously. 

'  What  does  the  paper  cost?  "  he  asked. 

"  Eight  dollars  a  year." 

He  dug  $8  out  of  his  pants  pocket  and 
started  to  leave. 

"  Hold  on,"  said  the  foreman,  "  where  do 
you  want  it  sent?" 

"  I'll  let  you  know,"  he  replied,  "  when  I 
git  settled.  I'm  travelling." 

He  stepped  out  into  the  moonlight.  In 
half  an  hour  there  was  a  clatter  of  hoofs  and 
rattling  of  arms  outside.  In  came  the 
Sheriff  of  Carson  and  a  brace  of  deputies. 
Had  the  printers  seen  anything  of  a  little 
man,  half  dressed  and  unshaven? 

95 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

Little  Bob  was  prompt  to  make  reply: 

"  Yes.     He  was  here  half  an  hour  ago." 

"  Which  way  did  he  go?  " 

Bob  started  to  reply,  giving  the  correct 
information. 

"  Shut  up,"  said  the  foreman  in  his  ear, 
"  I'll  attend  to  this." 

He  went  on  glibly  to  lay  out  a  route  for 
the  stranger,  just  opposite  to  the  one  he  had 
taken — down  the  main  road  to  the  Canyon. 

The  sheriff  made  it  known  that  the  visitor 
was  Black  Bart,  an  eminent  highwayman 
who  had  just  escaped  from  the  Nevada  peni- 
tentiary, and  rode  away  with  his  deputies — 
on  the  wrong  trail. 

"  What  did  you  lie  to  them  for,  Jim?  "  Bob 
asked  the  foreman.  "  Hell !"  he  said.  "You 
wouldn't  go  back  on  a  subscriber,  would 
you? " 

INDUSTRIAL  SIDE 

THE  distance  between  "  upstairs "  and 
"  downstairs  "  is  far  greater  than  the  physical 

96 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

measurement  implies.  To  the  force  assigned 
to  take  care  of  the  material  side  of  a  news- 
paper establishment  "  the  people  upstairs  " 
are  a  strange  and  inexplicable  lot.  The 
academic  critic  is  often  heard  with  acute 
accusations  against  "  business  office  "  con- 
trol. These  critics  could  never  have  tried 
the  experiment.  "  Controlling  "  an  editor  is 
about  as  easy  as  picking  live  eels  out  of  a 
puddle  of  water.  Indeed  the  average  editor 
can  hardly  "  control  "  himself.  His  hunting 
instincts  are  so  keenly  developed  as  to  leave 
no  place  in  his  mind  for  any  considerations 
other  than  getting  out  the  very  best  paper  he 
can.  He  is  after  the  news,  after  the  thing  of 
interest.  If  he  does  not  supply  this  the  busi- 
ness office,  even  if  it  were  inclined  to  repress, 
would  soon  find  itself  without  an  occupation. 
There  is  amazingly  little  acquaintance 
between  the  rank  and  file  of  the  two  depart- 
ments, each  attending  to  its  respective  f unc- 
7  97 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

tions  according  to  requirements  and  usually 
in  conflict  over  the  size  of  the  paper  and  the 
"  placing  "  of  advertisements.  Size  regu- 
lates all  expenses  in  a  newspaper  office.  Two 
pages  more  or  less  a  day  may  often  represent 
the  difference  between  a  proper  profit  and 
none  at  all.  So  the  paper  is  rarely  big 
enough  for  the  editor  or  small  enough  for 
the  business  end.  The  "  placing  "  of  adver- 
tisements is  an  endless  source  of  difficulty. 
The  editor  loves  a  "  clean  page  "  where  he 
can  let  his  "  story  "  run.  The  business  office 
regards  a  page  as  a  place  for  intensive  culti- 
vation, and  the  more  high-priced  position 
advertising  it  can  tuck  away  the  better  the 
balance  sheet  looks. 

Beside  there  is  an  incessant  pressure  from 
the  advertisers  for  better  positions.  This  is 
energetically  voiced  by  the  advertising  solici- 
tor, who  by  the  rule  that  we  all  take  on  the 
color  of  our  surroundings,  is  always  more 

98 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

eager  to  promote  the  interest  of  the  adver- 
tiser than  the  convenience  or  profit  of  the 
office.  This  makes  the  lot  of  the  advertising 
manager,  who  has  to  placate  the  editor  and 
please  the  advertisers,  a  very  unhappy  one. 
The  editors  have  always  been  contemptu- 
ous of  the  business  office,  regarding  it  only  as 
a  place  where  the  salaries  are  paid,  but  with 
very  little  respect  for  the  struggle  to  gather 
in  the  wherewithal  to  pay  them.  In  the  early 
days  of  the  trade,  there  was  no  business  office 
organization;  only  a  clerk  or  two  and  the 
man  who  handed  out  and  received  the  money 
for  the  circulation.  Sometimes  the  editor 
himself  stood  behind  the  counter  when  the 
rush  was  on.  Mr.  Pulitzer  used  to  humble 
his  business  managers  by  remarking  that 
when  "  he  was  active,  he  had  no  business 
office,"  which  was  in  a  measure  true.  But 
the  growth  of  the  business  made  manage- 
ment necessary  and,  like  most  things  needed, 
it  arrived  and  filled  its  place. 

99 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

The  New  York  newspapers  of  the  middle 
decades  of  the  nineteenth  century  had  no  ad- 
vertising departments,  indeed,  did  not  con- 
trol the  sale  of  their  advertising  but  farmed 
it  out.  The  late  Gordon  L.  Ford,  of  Brook- 
lyn, mada  a  fortune  out  of  the  columns  of 
the  New  York  Tribune,  which  he  controlled, 
and  as  late  as  1884  the  Brooklyn  Eagle  sold 
much  of  its  space  through  an  outside  agent. 
The  early  editor  was  not  thinking  business, 
he  wanted  to  express  himself,  but  when  he 
did  this  powerfully,  circulation  followed  and 
on  the  head  of  circulation  came  advertising. 

Yet  advertising  in  the  modern,  sense  de- 
veloped slowly.  Even  in  1893,  when  the 
World  celebrated  its  tenth  anniversary  under 
Mr.  Pulitzer's  ownership,  the  largest  depart- 

-* 

ment  store  advertisement  in  the  columns  of 
the  100-page  edition  issued  in  honor  of  the 
event  was  but  three  columns.  The  news- 
papers of  the  fifties  and  sixties  printed  little 
100 


THE  NEWSPAPER  'TRADE 

advertising  from  retailers.  Their  columns 
were  much  used  by  wholesale  merchants, 
shipping  men,  with  announcements  of  a 
purely  commercial  character,  and  a  liberal 
representation  of  the  ever-present  medicine 
man,  but  the  retailer  was  mostly  absent. 
The  late  A.  T.  Stewart,  first  and  greatest  of 
New  York's  retail  merchants,  was  quite  con- 
tent with  an  advertisement  150  lines  deep 
across  two  columns. 

One  thing  that  delayed  the  development 
of  the  display  advertiser  was  the  difficulty  in 
printing  any  announcement  that  was  in  ex- 
cess of  a  single  column  set  in  small  type. 
For  years  the  papers  were  printed  from  type 
presses  where  the  matter  had  to  be  made 
up  on  "  turtles  "  or  sections  of  a  cylinder. 
Each  column  was  therefore  slightly  curved, 
and  to  insert  a  double  column  advertisement 
was  a  mechanical  problem,  involving  as  it 

did  the  breaking  of  the  column  rule  and  the 
101 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

use  of  type  above  the  average  size.  To  meet 
this  exigency  double  price  was  usually 
charged  for  display  lines  or  taking  out  the 
column  rule.  Most  of  the  papers  met  the 
demand  for  larger  display  by  using  logo- 
types, or  letters  made  out  of  standard  sizes 
of  type,  that  is  a  large  "  A  "  would  be  built 
up  out  of  agate  or  nonpareil  "  A's,"  and  so 
more  easily  lent  themselves  to  the  curvature 
of  the  "  turtle."  With  the  advent  of  stereo^ 
typing  by  the  papier-mache  process,  which 
permitted  the  casting  of  a  curved  plate,  the 
"  turtle "  gave  way  and  the  troublesome 
broken  column  ceased  to  bother,  but  the 
habit  of  double  charges  remained  for  many 
years ;  in  fact  until  the  typesetting  machine 
put  the  compositor  on  a  weekly  wage  instead 
of  the  piece  system,  for  he,  too,  was  paid  extra 
for  broken  column  or  tabular  work,  of  which 
setting  logotypes  was  a  part.  So  strong  is 

habit  that  the  typefounders  cast  solid  logo- 
102 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

types  after  the  "  turtle  "  disappeared  and 
many  papers  used  this  form  of  display  letter 
long  after  the  need  of  it  disappeared,  the 
last  to  drop  their  use  being  the  New  York 
Herald,  which  clung  to  them  until  the  end 
of  the  century. 

Display  advertising  really  dates  from  the 
advent  of  the  penny  evening  newspaper, 
with  its  wide  circulation  and  swift  results. 
Morning  paper  advertising  was  much  like 
the  copy  prevailing  even  to-day  in  England, 
that  is,  it  was  "  sign  "  advertising,  promot- 
ing the  store  rather  than  the  goods.  The 
evening  paper  introduced  the  daily  sale  and 
the  bargain  counter. 

The  usual  editorial  view  is  that  there  is 
something  nefarious  about  the  business  office. 
It  is  just  as  mysterious  a  place  to  him  as  the 
editorial  room  is  to  the  boys  down  stairs. 
The  editor  never  can  understand  why  the 
business  office  sells  a  page  which  he  could 

103 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

use  to  better  advantage  for  news  or  a  feat- 
ure. The  business  office  folks  cannot  com- 
prehend why  the  editors  are  always  accumu- 
lating libel  suits,  or  printing  things  offensive 
to  advertisers ;  why  a  reporter  can  never  ex- 
plain his  expense  account,  or  why  the  size 
of  the  paper  was  raised  after  the  "  card  " 
went  up, — the  card  being  the  business  office 
estimate  of  what  the  size  should  be  on  the 
basis  of  business  in  hand.  It  makes  no  allow- 
ance for  the  unruliness  of  events  with  which 
the  editor  has  to  deal.  It  is  this  wholesome 
variance  that  ensures  independent  and  relia- 
ble editing.  Nothing  could  be  more  fatal 
to  a  newspaper  than  supine  obedience  on  the 
part  of  "  upstairs." 

Business  office  opportunities  are  not  so 
prompt  in  their  rewards  as  the  editorial. 
Following  the  usual  rule,  business  promo- 
tion is  slow,  but  the  employee  keeps  what  he 
gets,  which  is  not  the  case  "  upstairs,"  where 

104 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

the  reward  comes  quickly  but  where  the  com- 
petition is  keener  and  where  mistakes  lead 
to  sudden  fatalities.  The  reporter  or  editor 
is  always  in  peril  of  being  "  beaten  "  in  the 
news  or  becoming  the  victim  of  some  error 
of  judgment,  which  upsets  his  progress  and 
often  costs  him  his  place.  The  clerical  force, 
pure  and  simple,  is  no  better  or  worse  off 
than  workers  of  other  classes,  though  better 
paid  as  a  rule  than  minor  employees  in  banks 
and  insurance  companies.  As  in  all  other 
things  the  rewards  go  to  the  producers.  The 
man  who  can  develop  circulation  or  procure 
advertising  gets  the  bundle ! 

As  the  newspaper  begins  with  the  editor, 
editorial  or  reportorial  experience  is  an  in- 
valuable equipment  for  business  office  man- 
agement. Unless  there  is  knowledge  below 
stairs  of  the  fundamentals  of  newspaper  mak- 
ing with  an  understanding  that  rules  cannot 
provide  success,  there  will  be  a  good  many 

105 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

painful  moments  for  the  man  who  takes  up 
the  task  of  management. 

Not  only  should  a  business  manager  be  in 
sympathy  with  the  editorial  impulse  but  be 
ablq  to  "  stand  for  "  many  vagaries,  which 
would  upset  sound  business  judgment  in 
other  lines.  He  is  a  good  deal  like  the  cap- 
tain of  a  ship,  he  must  be  ready  to  meet 
anything  that  comes  along.  The  winds  are 
not  laid  for  his  advantage  nor  can  he  compel 
a  calm! 

The  mechanical  cost  of  modern  newspaper 
production  is  very  great,  due  to  high  wages, 
short  hours  and  much  waste.  The  paper 
must  always  be  on  an  emergency  basis — 
prepared  to  throw  away  pages  of  matter  at 
the  last  moment  to  care  for  something  newer 
or  more  important.  To  meet  this  contin- 
gency the  composing  room  force  is  always 
held  at  the  maximum.  Presses  and  power 

must  be  here,  prepared  in  the  same  ratio. 
106 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

The  lot  of  the  newspaper  compositor  has 
been  much  improved  by  the  invention  of  the 
typesetting  machine.  Under  the  perpetual 
emergency  conditions  that  prevail,  the  cost 
of  composition  has  not  lessened  over  the 
hand  days,  though  more  work  is  done  on  a 
smaller  floor  space  and  with  greater  speed. 
The  effect  of  the  machine,  however,  has  been 
to  stabilize  employment.  In  the  hand  days 
many  men  were  necessarily  on  call  to  meet 
the  irregular  needs  of  the  office.  Only  par- 
tially employed,  with  uncertain  hours,  the 
moral  effect  was  unfortunate.  Now  the 
holder  of  a  "  situation  "  has  a  sort  of  fran- 
chise worth  from  $1600  to  $2000  per  year. 
In  New  York  the  day  scale  for  compositors 
is  $30  per  week  of  six  TMz-hour  days,  the 
night  $33,  and  the  "  lobster  "  shift,  meaning 
men  brought  in  at  2  A.M.,  $36,  for  6%  hours. 
Stereotyping,  long  an  art  with  little  change 
in  it,  and  for  40  years  performed  solely  by 

107 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

hand  labor,  was  advanced  by  Henry  A. 
Wise  Wood,  who  invented  the  auto-plate 
in  1899,  following  it  later  with  the  "  junior 
auto-plate."  The  first  machine  was  entirely 
automatic,  the  latter  partly  so.  The  effect 
of  these  machines  was  to  save  fully  2/3  of 
the  time  usually  devoted  to  dressing  presses, 
and  thereby  producing  a  large  economy  as 
well  as  improving  press  room  productivity 
by  increasing  the  running  time  of  the 
machines.  The  stereotyper  is  another  well 
paid  mechanic.  His  night  hours  number  six, 
day  7%.  For  this  his  pay  in  New  York  is 
$30  per  week,  the  year's  total  often  mount- 
ing to  $2000,  counting  in  the  over-time, 
which  by  reason  of  the  short  regular  hours 
is  not  oppressive. 

The  ordinary  press-hand  in  a  press  room 
receives  by  the  New  York  standard  $25  per 
week  for  six  night  hours,  and  7%  day.  The 
pressman  in  charge  $30.  In  all  sections  of 

108 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

the  country  the  trades  employed  on  news- 
papers are  usually  paid  above  the  standard 
of  other  employments,  while  their  regularity 
of  employment  averages  much  higher.  This, 
of  course,  is  even  more  important  than  a 
high  scale  of  pay.  It  is  the  total  income  that 
counts. 

The  photo-engraver,  a  comparative  new- 
comer, is  also  an  important  wage  earner, 
ranking  with  the  compositors  and  stereo- 
typers.  The  ordinary  mail  hand  is  certain 
to  earn  $1200  a  year  in  a  New  York  office. 

Recently  an  important  economic  advance 
has  been  made  in  the  matter  of  standardizing 
newspaper  size.  Great  waste  in  white  paper 
and  great  cost  in  special  machinery  resulted 
from  a  haphazard  fixing  of  size  by  publish- 
ers. Each  machine  turned  out  by  the  press 
builders  had  to  be  special  and  the  paper 
maker  was  perpetually  vexed  to  provide  for 
oddities  in  size.  Under  the  leadership  of  the 

109 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

late  John  Norris,  Chairman,  at  the  time,  of 
the  Paper  Committee  of  the  American 
Newspaper  Publishers'  Association,  a  move 
to  standardize  began  in  1910.  He  regarded 
the  13^/2  em  column,  seven  to  a  page,  as  the 
handiest,  but  this  had  the  defect  of  wasting 
space  in  width  of  matter.  The  movement 
resulted  in  a  wide  adaptation  of  the  12% 
em  column,  eight  to  the  page,  introduced  by 
the  New  York  World  in  1889.  This  makes 
possible  the  use  of  paper  in  73-inch  rolls, 
enabling  the  paper  manufacturer  to  cover 
his  machines  more  completely  and  further, 
making  paper  interchangeable  between 
offices  and  so  cutting  down  the  stock  on 
hand.  Often,  in  the  odd  size  days,  much 
trouble  followed  shortages  in  varying  widths. 
Now  the  papers  in  a  city,  having  all  the  same 
width  of  roll,  are  much  better  insured  in 
their  supply,  and  the  benefits  to  the  manu- 
facturer in  increased  production  due  to  more 
no 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

complete  covering  of  their  wires  are  large. 
The  news  print  capacity  of  American  and 
Canadian  mills  reached  in  1916  an  output  of 
7081  tons  per  day! 

ADVERTISING 

ADVERTISING  is  the  great  art  of  attract- 
ing attention.  Life  would  be  a  dreary  desert 
indeed  without  the  charm  of  interest  aroused 
by  the  unusual,  the  startling  or  the  bizarre, 
all  of  which  terms  fit  advertising.  The 
Pharaoh  who  built  the  pyramids  and  carved 
the  Sphinx,  whatever  his  motive,  has  adver- 
tised Egypt  for  3000  years.  The  builders 
of  the  tower  of  Babel  were  undoubtedly  the 
executive  committee  of  Babylon's  Board  of 
Trade,  intent  upon  doing  something  to  put 
the  first  city  of  Mesopotamia  on  the  map,  just 
as  the  later  Eiffel  exalted  Paris.  The  archi- 
tect of  the  Parthenon  picked  out  the  most 

conspicuous  height  above  Athens  to  glorify 
ill 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

Greece  through  all  time  and  King  Solomon's 
temple  was  a  master  attraction  for  the  City 
of  Jerusalem. 

The  peacock's  tail,  the  expanded  fan  of 
the  turkey-gobbler,  the  drumming  of  the 
partridge,  the  roar  of  the  lion  and  the  neck 
of  the  giraffe  are  splendid  specimens  of 
Nature's  essays  in  the  field,  while  the  female 
costume  through  all  the  ages  has  been  de- 
signed to  attract  the  attention  of  man  more 
than  to  garb  the  lady ! 

The  Venus  of  Milo  advertises  the  perfect 
form  of  woman  and  the  Farnese  Hercules 
the  perfection  of  masculine  development. 
Applied  commercially,  advertising  falls 
below  the  achievements  of  Nature  and  Art, 
but  displays  a  usefulness  that  raises  it  to  the 
dignity  of  a  profession.  To  say  what  form 
of  advertising  is  the  best  advertising  is 
beyond  the  ken  of  men.  It  is  safer  to  hold 

to  the  view  of  the  Kentucky  Colonel  when 
112 


, 

THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

asked  to  name  a  good  whiskey.  He  said  all 
whiskey  was  good,  but  some  kinds  were  bet- 
ter than  others.  So  it  is  with  advertising. 

We  of  the  newspaper  trade  are  apt  to  think 

i 

newspaper  advertising  better  than  any  other 
kind.  There  is  some  sound*  reason  behind 
the  view.  To  begin  with,  the  universality  of 
newspaper  reading  provides  the  certainty  of 
reaching  a  large  number  of  possible  cus- 
tomers, while  the  convenience  served  is  so 
great  as  to  insure  profitable  response,  always 
assuming  that  the  advertiser  has  something 
to  sell  that  people  want  to  buy! 

Because  newspaper  advertising  is  very 
conspicuous  and  ever  present  it  is  sometimes 
intimated  that  the  advertiser  controls  the 
columns  of  the  popular  press.  Nothing 
could  be  farther  from  the  truth.  Not  only 
does  the  advertiser  not  "  control "  news- 
papers, but  he  seldom  tries,  and  usually  with 

the  result  of  a  severe  rebuke.    Advertising 
8  113 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

is  a  by-product  of  the  newspaper,  useful  in 
enabling  it  to  sell  itself  at  a  much  lower 
cost  than  if  it  relied  for  income  upon  the 
reader  alone.  Its  value  to  the  advertiser 
naturally  grows  in  a  ratio  with  the  paper's 
hold  upon  the  public.  This  fact,  duly  im- 
pressed, is  usually  enough  to  convince  the 
sensible  business  man  that  his  relationship 
with  the  newspapers  is  decidedly  formal 
and  does  not  extend  beyond  the  counting 
room,  where  he  is  entitled  to  know  what  cir- 
culation he  gets  for  his  money  and  to  a  rate 
as  low  as  the  next  man.  This  is  a  degree  of 
fairness  that  prevails  in  good  measure  in  the 
newspaper  trade.  Doing  business  as  it  does 
in  the  open,  the  rightly  managed  newspaper 
has  no  place  for  secret  negotiations,  rebates 
or  special  privileges  and  the  paper  succeeds 
best  that  carries  all  its  rates  on  its  rate 
cards.  It  is  really  and  truly  a  common  car- 
rier and  ought  to  operate  like  a  railroad. 

114 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

It  is  sold  for  a  uniform  price  to  all  comers 
and  should  have  but  one  price  for  its  adver- 
tising columns. 

Vast  as  the  volume  of  advertising  is  in 
American  newspapers,  the  number  of  ad- 
vertisers is  surprisingly  small.  This  does 
not  apply  to  the  users  of  classified  announce- 
ments, the  popular  "  wants,"  but  to  "  dis- 
play." A  well  crowded  evening  paper  in 
New  York  City  in  the  centre  of  7,500,000 
population  and  innumerable  establishments 
is  doing  very  well  if  it  has  150  separate  adver- 
tisements in  an  issue,  and  a  half  of  these  will 
be  the  small  "  ads  "  of  theatres,  excursions 
and  restaurants. 

The  "  big "  local  advertisers  can  be 
counted  on  the  fingers  of  the  two  hands. 
The  fair  sized  ones  may  aggregate  a  score, 
the  "  foreign  "  and  "  medical  "  make  up  the 
rest.  One  of  the  reform  waves  of  recent 
years  was  the  warfare  on  proprietary  reme- 

115 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

dies,  with  the  result  of  much  excluding  from 
newspapers,  though  many  shut  down  with 
reluctance  under  the  gunfire  of  the  critic; 
for  whatever  may  be  said  of  the  merits  or 
demerits  of  the  proprietary  articles,  as  an 
advertiser  the  medicine  man  was  long  the 
mainstay  of  the  press,  when  other  forms  of 
business  were  indifferent  and  utterly  unre- 
sponsive. Beginning  with  the  London  dai- 
lies of  the  revolutionary  period  the  pill  and 
potion  man,  and  the  purveyor  of  improve- 
ments for  the  female  face  and  form,  have 
been  staunch  users  of  newspaper  space. 
Worthy  or  not,  they  aided  in  creating  an  in- 
dustry and  an  educator  that  is  worthy,  and 
so  must  be  esteemed  in  the  newspaper  offices, 
whatever  may  be  thought  outside! 

The  department  store  expenditure  in  the 
large  centres  is  commonly  figured  at  from  3% 
to  4%  per  cent,  upon  the  gross  amount  of 
sales.  A  business  of  $10,000,000  annually 

116 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

therefore  indulges  in  an  outlay  of  from 
$350,000  to  $450,000  in  reaching  the  public. 
The  cost  of  merchandising  is  usually  figured 
at  25  per  cent.  So  much  must  the  customer 
pay  for  advertising,  wrapping  and  packing, 
rental,  delivery  and  clerk  hire. 

The  work  of  the  advertising  solicitor  is 
important  in  all  newspaper  offices  tmly  in  so 
far  as  he  brings  in  the  first  "  copy."  The 
paper  must  do  the  rest.  Experience  alone 
tells  the  "  pulling  "  value  of  an  advertise- 
ment and  the  buying  power  of  circulation. 
Much  soliciting  energy  is  wasted  forcing 
business  from  the  wrong  lines.  A  solicitor 
should  study  his  paper  with  even  more  care 
than  an  advertiser.  The  good  jockey 
"  knows  "  the  qualities  of  his  horse.  Too 
few  solicitors  have  the  acquaintance  they 
ought  to  have  with  the  powers  of  their 
medium.  Acquaintance  and  personal  charm 
have  combined  often  to  wheedle  business 

117 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

from  an  advertiser,  where  knowledge  and 
discrimination  should  have  been  employed. 
It  is  pretty  nearly  possible  to  so  apportion 
"  copy  "  as  to  make  it  pay  in  all  newspapers. 
One  grade  of  readers  can  be  relied  upon  to 
respond  to  the  advertising  of  expensive 
wares,  another  to  the  medium  and  another 
to  the  cheap.  Different  "  copy  "  means  that 
every  sail  can  be  made  to  draw. 

It  is  rather  odd,  but  few  advertisers  are 
willing  initiators  of  the  use  of  printer's  ink. 
With  the  example  of  sundry,  singular  suc- 
cesses before  them  they  begrudge  the  outlay 
for  publicity  and  regard  the  exceptional 
space  user  as  merely  abnormally  fortunate. 
So  most  business  men  are  repellent  or  on  the 
defensive,  which  makes  the  solicitor's  job  a 
rather  difficult  one.  But  when  he  does  suc- 
ceed in  picking  up  a  line,  it  becomes  an 
attractive  and  profitable  occupation. 

One  very  able  solicitor,  arguing  long  and 

118 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

eloquently  with  an  obdurate  business  man, 
was  Startled  by  a  gentle  snore.  His  auditor 
had  actually  gone  to  sleep  under  the  spell  of 
the  oration.  The  solicitor,  a  powerful  man, 
struck  the  sleeper  a  mighty  slap  on  the 
thigh.  He  awoke  with  a  profane  yell: 

"  What  the do  you  mean  by  hitting 

me?" 

"  What  do  you  mean,"  was  the  cool  reply, 
"  by  going  to  sleep  when  I  am  giving  you 
the  most  valuable  information  you  ever  had  a 
chance  to  hear!  " 

He  got  the  business. 

In  another  case  the  widow  of  a  clergyman 
sought  and  obtained  >a  place  as  solicitor  for 
religious  announcements  on  a  great  New 
York  newspaper,  established  as  a  religious 
daily,  but  by  some  considered  to  have  wan- 
dered at  times  from  the  path!  She  was 
warned  that  it  would  be  a  hard  undertaking, 
but  full  of  zeal  and  faith  in  her  large  ac- 

119 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

quaintance  among  her  late  husband's  cleri- 
cal friends,  she  went  blithely  to  the  task.  In 
three  days  she  was  back.  Her  eyes  showed 
traces  of  tears. 

"  I  have  seen  fifteen  of  my  husband's  best 
friends  "  she  said.  "  They  all  were  so  sorry 
for  me.  They  knew  I  needed  the  salary,  and 
if  only  I  had  come  to  them  from  some  nice 
paper  they  would  be  only  too  happy  to  help 

me,  but  from  this  one and  so,  I've  got 

to  give  it  up." 

"  Nonsense,"  replied  the  business  man- 
ager who  heard  the  tale  of  woe.  "  Go  back 
and  ask  them  '  Do  you  come  to  bring  the 
righteous  or  sinners  to  repentance?'  Be- 
cause you  can  tell  them  if  it's  sinners  they 
are  after,  we  probably  have  the  largest  crop 
in  town! " 

She  was  plucky  and  went  back  with  the 
message.  The  paper  is  supreme  to-day  in 

religious  announcements. 
120 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

A  shrewd  solicitor  of  summer-resort  ad- 
vertising attended,  with  the  men  from  rival 
papers,  a  Board  of  Trade  meeting  at  Asbury 
Park.  Each  man  was  asked  to  state  the  cir- 
culation claimed  by  his  paper.  This  youth 
was  called  early.  He  gave  his  paper's  figure 
as  500,000.  His  chief  rival  came  last.  His 
"circulation"  was  700,000.  Before  the 
meeting  adjourned  the  representative  of 
"  500,000  "  asked  for  a  chance  to  say  another 
word. 

"  If  I  had  been  asked  last,"  he  said,  "  My 
circulation  would  have  been  700,000." 

He  got  the  business ! 

Another  solicitor  started  out  to  develop  a 
line  of  classified  "  ads  "  for  family  pets  under 
"  Dogs,  Birds,  etc."  One  German  dealer  in 
these  specialties  resisted  all  blandishments. 
He  stuck  to  a  rival  paper  as  sufficient  for 
his  needs.  It  happened  that  death  notices 

were  a  great  feature  in  the  paper  he  pre- 
121 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

f  erred  and  a  very  light  one  in  that  one  repre- 
sented by  the  solicitor.  It  was  in  the  pneu- 
monia season  and  nearly  a  page  of  the  sad 
announcements  were  present  in  the  one  and 
but  half  a  column  in  the  other. 

"Don't  you  want  to  stay  in  business?" 
asked  the  agent. 

"Sure;  vy  not?" 

The  solicitor  opened  up  the  two  papers  at 
the  death  roll. 

"  Well,  you  can't  if  you  stick  to  the . 

The readers  are  all  dying.  Ours  are 

all  alive.  Better  get  on  board!  " 

He  did! 

All  solicitors  are  not  so  lucky  in  being 
"  pat."  One  very  able  New  York  advertis- 
ing man  whose  affluence  afforded  him  a  coun- 
try seat  used  many  of  its  by-products  as 
agreeable  means  of  introducing  "  business." 
With  his  eye  on  the  taste  of  a  large  adver- 
tiser of  proprietary  medicine,  he  sent  the 
122 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

gentleman  a  collie  pup.  The  pup  bit  off  the 
card  on  his  collar  and,  as  the  event  showed, 
arrived  anonymously  at  his  destination — on 
the  outskirts  of  Philadelphia.  After  several 
weeks'  waiting  for  some  word  the  solicitor 
journeyed  to  the  Quaker  City  and  found  his 
man.  He  was  rather  distant.  No  headway 
being  made  on  the  desired  contract,  he  ven- 
tured to  inquire  about  the  pup. 

The  advertiser  broke  out  in  sudden  fury: 

"  So  you're  the  idiot  who  sent  us  that 
blanked,  blanked  pup,  are  you!  I've  been 
wanting  to  kill  you  and  the  dog  ever  since 
he  came.  So  you're  the  fellow  who  sicked 
that  nuisance  on  me.  Why,  he's  eaten  up  all 
the  rugs  and  shoes  in  the  house.  Come  and 
get  him  and  do  it quick!  " 

It  is  proper  to  say  that  the  pup  developed 
into  a  model  dog  and  cordiality  and  contracts 
followed  in  due  season. 

A  good  advertising  solicitor  can  make 

123 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

from  $5000  to  $15,000  a  year  on  a  sizable 
paper  if  he  is  diligent  and  productive.  His 
advertisers  become  his  own,  by  newspaper 
custom.  His  hours  are  such  as  he  cares  to 
make  them  and  work  alone  "  drives  "  a  man 
of  standing. 

The  "  adsmith  "  is  a  modern  adjunct  to 
the  newspaper.  He  is  the  person  who  pre- 
pares "  copy  "  for  the  advertiser.  Few  news- 
papers have  had  success  in  maintaining  a 
"  copy  "  department,  but  the  "  adsmith  "  has 
developed  a  field  for  himself.  By  study  of 
type,  goods,  the  field  and  expression,  he  has 
become  much  sought  for  as  an  expert  in  pub- 
licity. Parallel  with  this  very  useful  person 
has  come  another — of  no  value  to  the  news- 
paper, and  for  a  long  time  one  who  did  much 
to  discredit  it — the  press  agent,  first  a  prod- 
uct of  the  theatre  and  developing  until  he 
reached  the  lofty  pinnacles  occupied  by  the 
Standard  Oil  Company  and  the  New  York, 

124 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

New  Haven  and  Hartford  Railroad.  Be- 
ginning merely  as  a  person  to  provide  repor- 
ters with  such  information  as  his  employer 
cared  to  give  out,  he  expanded  himself  into  a 
factor  in  publicity  promotion  in  the  securing 
of  vast  amounts  of  space  free  of  charge  by 
gilding  his  statements  with  interest,  so  that 
they  were  eagerly  welcomed  in  many,  if  not 
all,  editorial  rooms.  At  last  the  counting 
rooms  became  vaguely  conscious  that  the 
papers  were  being  used  and  abused  by  these 
ingenious  gentlemen.  Indeed,  they  earned 
much  discredit  for  the  press,  being  responsi- 
ble for  a  severe  share  of  distrust,  almost 
proving  the  Populistic  charge  of  corporation 
control.  Steps  taken  by  the  American  News- 
paper Publishers'  Association  found  more 
than  1000  of  these  busy  gentlemen  diligently 
at  work.  They  have  been  well  broken  up  by 
concentrated  action  on  the  part  of  the 
A.  N.  P.  A.,  but  not  before  they  had  done 

125 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

much  harm  in  affecting  the  status  of  news- 
paper honesty  as  well  as  curtailing  legiti- 
mate advertising  on  the  part  of  their 
employers. 

ILLUSTRATING 

THE  newspaper  office  since  1884  has 
become  a  more  than  complex  affair,  due  to 
improvements  in  mechanics  and  enlargement 
of  its  scope  by  the  addition  of  illustrations 
and  the  production  of  supplements  in  color, 
halftone  and  gravure.  While  once  in  a  very 
great  while  a  daily  newspaper  would  use  a 
"  cut  "  or  a  war-map  in  its  news  columns,  the 
costly  and  slow  process  of  wood-engraving 
furnished  the  sole  medium  for  illustration 
and  was  out  of  reach  by  reason  of  time  and 
expense.  In  the  seventies  the  coming  of  the 
"  chalk-plate  "  process  caused  the  establish- 
ment of  a  daily  devoted  mainly  to  pictures, 
the  New  York  Graphic,  a  costly  venture  for 
its  promoters.  It  existed  for  some  years,  but 

126 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

without  striking  any  popular  chord.  The 
pictures,  by  reason  of  the  process  employed, 
were  coarse  sketches,  that  really  told  a  very 
poor  story  of  events. 

Meantime  photo-engraving  developed.  By 
pen-and-inking  a  silver  print  the  work  of  the 
camera  could  be  reproduced  with  tolerable 
accuracy.  Still  the  daily  made  little  use  of 
the  invention.  In  1884,  the  New  York 
World  began  the  first  regular  effort  to  illus- 
trate a  newspaper,  V.  Gribayedoff  being  the 
pioneer  artist  and  Walt  McDougall  the  ear- 
liest cartoonist.  Their  efforts  grew  in  vol- 
ume and  other  talent  developed.  When 
the  New  York  Recorder  was  established 
it  provided  itself  with  a  good  art  staff 
whose  work  was  made  much  of  in  silver 
print,  though  the  dynamiting  of  Russell 
Sage  in  1892  was  the  first  event  to  be  what 
could  be  called  fully  illustrated.  The  head 
of  Norcross,  the  dynamiter,  had  been  blown 

127 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

from  his  body  and  was  taken  to  police  head- 
quarters, where  John  S.  Pughe,  a  slender  boy 
on  the  Recorder  staff,  who  became  Puck's 
chief  cartoonist,  made  a  startling  drawing  of 
it  by  candle  light,  the  most  striking  bit  of 
work  up  to  that  time  done  by  a  newspaper 
artist.  That  the  night  editor  saw  fit  to  print 
it  on  the  second  page,  did  not  detract  from 
the  achievement.  From  that  time  progress 
was  rapid,  but  copious  illustrating  did  not 
develop  until  1894,  when  the  World  estab- 
lished the  first  "  Sunday  magazine  supple- 
ment "  with  pages  free  from  advertisements 
which  gave  a  chance  for  conspicuous  picto- 
rial efforts  and  opened  a  market  for  art  work 
profitable  to  the  artist  and  important  to  the 
papers.  The  daily  cartoon  showed  itself  to 
first  and  best  advantage  in  the  Evening 
Telegram,  where  the  late  Charles  G.  Bush, 
head  of  his  profession,  shone  until  trans- 
planted to  the  Herald  and  later  to  the 

128 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

World,  in  1898.  From  that  year  till  now 
few  papers  of  importance  have  heen  without 
their  cartoonist — a  powerful  and  invaluable 
adjunct  to  the  editorial  page.  It  will  be  re- 
membered that  Thomas  Nast  was  the  father 
of  the  American  cartoon  as  a  regular  feature 
and  that  Tweed  offered  him  $100,000  to  quit. 

"  Stop  the  d d  pictures,"  the  boss  was 

credited  with  remarking,  "  and  I  don't  care 
for  the  rest."  It  is  true  that  to  Nast's  piti- 
less pencil  he  owed  his  overthrow,  and  in  the 
cartoon,  the  newspaper  of  to-day  finds  one 
of  its  keenest  and  most  effective  weapons. 

The  Recorder  had  an  admirable  cartoonist, 
Dan  McCarthy,  who  forsook  the  throttle  of 
a  New  York  Central  locomotive  to  become  a 
leader  in  his  line.  Before  taking  up  cartoon- 
ing McCarthy  did  general  illustrating  for 
the  Herald  and  in  time  was  sent  to  Paris  to 
ornament  the  European  edition.  His  return 
to  New  York  and  his  development  as  a  car- 

9  129 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

toonist  occurred  this  wise,  according  to  tradi- 
tion. He  received  an  order  to  go  forthwith  to 
Trouville  and  went,  expecting  instructions 
to  follow.  None  came.  He  busied  himself 
with  making  a  budget  of  local  sketches  and 
sent  them  to  the  office.  In  return  he  received 
a  sharp  rebuke  for  doing  something  he  had 
not  been  told  to  do.  So  he  took  to  drink  and 
on  the  day  when  the  Bennett  coach  rolled  up 
to  the  inn — the  event  which  he  had  been  sent 
to  depict — he  eyed  the  load  of  Russian 
Grand  Dukes  malevolently  and  asked  the 
whip,  who  was  no  less  a  person  than  his 
chief,  "  what  he  paid  those  Kings  for  riding 
around  with  him." 

An  early  passage  home  followed,  where 
the  key  to  the  street  was  handed  him.  From 
the  Recorder  Mr.  McCarthy  went  to  the 
World.  His  best  cartoon  was  the  knot  tied 
in  the  British  lion's  tail  during  the  agita- 
tion following  Mr.  Cleveland's  Venezuelan 

130 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

message.    It  was  printed  January  9,  1896. 

To-day  the  cartoonist  earns  a  better  sal- 
ary than  most  hank  presidents  and  ranks 
with  the  best  of  the  editors. 

As  white  paper  improved  in  texture  it 
became  possible  to  print  with  reasonable 
clearness  from  half-tone  plates.  At  first 
these  were  inserted  in  the  stereotype  plate, 
but  as  this  was  impossible  where  many  dupli- 
cations were  required,  it  was  not  long  before 
the  photo-etchers  could  produce  a  plate  that 
stood  stereotyping  and  now  the  use  of 
"  cuts  "  is  common  in  all  kinds  of  papers. 
They  have  had  the  effect  of  killing  the  de- 
scriptive writer,  once  the  pride  of  the  city 
staff,  and  of  curtailing  much  wordiness.  The 
tendency  of  the  day  is  for  rather  less  illus- 
trating in  the  daily  issue  and  more  on 
Sunday. 

The  use  of  color  was  an  idea  that  had  the 
germ  in  the  World  office,  and  taken  from 

131 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

there,  where  it  had  never  got  beyond  experi- 
ment, to  that  of  the  Recorder,  where  George 
W.  Turner  succeeded  each  Sunday  in  print- 
ing a  red  star  in  the  advertisement  of  R.  H. 
Macy  &  Co.,  by  the  device  of  an  auxiliary 
cylinder  which  "  struck  in  "  the  color  spot  on 
a  blank  left  in  the  black  plate.  Later,  in 
1893,  the  World  was  the  first  paper  to  em- 
ploy color  in  embellishing  illustrations  and  to 
put  in  a  multi-color  press.  This  machine  is 
simply  the  rotary  press  with  as  many  cylin- 
ders as  may  be  required,  each  of  which  trans- 
fers its  part  of  the  color  scheme  to  the  pass- 
ing web.  Half-tone  magazine  presses  that 
do  excellent  work  rapidly  are  in  use,  and 
lately  machine  photogravure,  introduced  in 
America  by  Charles  W.  Saalburg,  has  made 
considerable  headway  as  an  addition  to  the 
Sunday  illustrating. 

The  "  comic  supplement "  elsewhere  de- 
scribed has  led  to  a  wide  use  of  "  comics  "  in 

132 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

morning  and  evening  newspapers.  The 
Evening  World  introduced  them  to  New 
York  in  1897,  through  Thomas  E.  Powers, 
and  followed  him  with  the  unique  work  of 
Maurice  Ketten,  a  talented  importation  from 
France,  with  a  wide  hold  on  the  American 
reader.  "Mutt  and  Jeff,"  a  horse-play  comic, 
originated  in  the  San  Francisco  Chronicle 
and  in  due  time  reached  New  York,  at  last 
syndicating  "  Bud  "  Fisher's  work  to  a  large 
audience,  reaching  every  town  of  importance 
in  the  land.  "  Let  George  do  it "  is  a  phrase 
engrafted  in  the  language  by  George 
McManus  in  the  Evening  World.  Through 
the  syndicating  process  it  has  been  possible 
to  build  up  large  rewards  for  the  man  with  a 
good  "  comic  "  idea,  a  select  few  running 
their  incomes  up  as  high  as  $40,000  to 
$50,000  per  year.  The  ordinary  newspaper 
artist  of  capacity  is  certain  of  pay  running 
from  $2500  to  $7500  per  year. 

133 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

The  art  department  is  a  very  costly  ad- 
junct to  a  large  office.  The  wages  of  the 
photo-engravers  will  run  up  to  $75,000  a 
year,  and  of  the  artists  and  photographers 
to  as  much  more.  The  newspaper  photogra- 
pher preceded  his  brother  of  the  movies  in 
hunting  subjects  of  interest,  often  taking 
much  risk  in  his  pursuit  of  game.  The 
camera  is  as  important  to  the  production  of  a 
modern  newspaper  as  the  reporter,  and  a 
member  of  the  snapshot  squad  is  required  to 
have  as  much  enterprise  and  perspicacity  as 
his  brother,  the  news-gatherer.  He  must 
know  all  the  turns  of  his  trade,  be  certain  of 
his  subject  and  the  most  striking  view  to  be 
had ;  able  to  develop  his  films  in  a  hurry.  It 
is  often  but  a  scant  hour  from  the  snapshot 
to  the  form. 

The  camera  man  has  to  exercise  diplomacy 
very  often,  and  in  the  beginning  of  his  exer- 
tions met  with  many  rebuffs,  coupled  with 

134 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

occasional  assaults  from  people  who  felt  that 
privacy  was  unduly  invaded,  but  he  won  his 
way  and  the  prejudice  has  gone  to  join  others 
that  formerly  hampered  news  gathering. 

CIRCULATION 

COMMENTING  on  the  slow  death  of  a  once 
great  newspaper,  which  was  kept  alive  by  an 
apparently  invincible  advertising  patronage, 
Joseph  Pulitzer  remarked  that  the  first  thing 
a  newspaper  got  was  circulation,  the  last 
thing  advertising. 

In  the  operation  of  this  rule  he  saw  the 
coming  doom  of  the  property.  Its  circula- 
tion had  succumbed  to  competition  by  a  con- 
temptuous failure  to  consider  its  rivals,  due 
to  the  strength  of  the  advertising  columns, 
the  management  forgetting  that  the  reader 
fed  the  advertiser  and  that  in  due  season  his 
absence  would  make  itself  known.  There- 
fore in  a  live  newspaper  establishment  circu- 

135 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

lation  will  always  have  first  consideration. 
Mr.  Pulitzer  watched  his  circulation  figures 
as  closely  as  the  prudent  sea  captain  scans 
his  barometer  and  was  no  less  anxious  to 
know  why  circulation  went  up  than  why  it 
went  down.  This  no  one  could  ever  tell  him. 
The  possessor  of  such  certain  knowledge 
could  acquire  wealth  beyond  even  modern 
dreams  of  avarice. 

There  is  one  rule  that  has  more  certainty 
in  it  than  any  other  and  it  is  a  paraphrase  of 
General  Nathan  Bedford  Forrest's  formula 
for  military  success:  "  Git  thar  fustest  with 
the  mostest  men." 

"  Get  there  first  with  the  most  news  " 
comes  nearer  insuring  a  lead  than  any  other 
idea  that  ever  stimulated  the  circulation  of  a 
newspaper.  It  does  not  cover  it  all,  but  in 
pursuance  of  such  a  policy  the  energizing  of 
every  item  in  a  newspaper's  make-up  is 
pretty  sure  to  follow,  and  with  it  success. 

136 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

The  circulation  department  is  a  growth  of 
the  last  thirty  years.  For  the  century  of 
daily  newspaper  making  that  preceded  1885, 
the  paper  found  its  way  to  the  reader  largely 
by  chance.  People  who  wanted  to  sell  news- 
papers came  to  the  offices  at  an  early  hour  in 
the  morning,  bought  the  sheets  they  desired 
and  in  turn  delivered  them  to  subscribers  or 
sold  them  upon  the  streets.  The  New  York 
newsboy  of  the  "  Ragged  Dick  "  period,  and 
of  the  days  of  the  newsboys'  lodging  house  in 
New  York,  was  a  vagabond  kept  in  vaga- 
bondage by  the  precarious  nature  of  his  occu- 
pation. Waifs  and  strays  picked  up  a  few 
pennies  by  waylaying  the  passers-by  early 
and  late  and  woefully  exhibiting  the  armful 
of  papers  on  which  they  were  "  stuck."  In 
the  smaller  cities  the  carrier  made  his  meagre 
living  by  rising  every  morning  at  3:30  and 
going  his  rounds  by  dark,  looking  forward 
to  the  first  day  of  the  New  Year  as  the  one 

137 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

that  would  bring  him  temporary  affluence 
through  the  sale  of  "  the  carrier's  address  " 
to  his  patrons. 

This  was  usually  a  pretty  bad  poem  set 
within  a  rude  border  and  drearily  reciting  the 
troubles  of  the  vendor.  Sometimes  a  kindly 
editor  or  budding  genius  penned  the  rhymes 
with  real  merit.  But  the  idea  of  pushing  the 
paper  was  usually  beneath  the  dignity  of  the 
ownership.  Even  such  a  great  seller  of  news 
as  James  Gordon  Bennett,  the  elder,  made 
the  reader  hunt  for  his  paper. 

In  the  evening  field  the  carrier  also  con- 
trolled the  distribution,  such  as  it  was,  with  a 
moderate  street  sale  "  down  town." 

In  considering  the  vast  distribution  of  the 
modern  evening  newspaper  it  seems  incredi- 
ble that  this  is  a  growth  of  less  than  thirty 
years,  and  difficult  to  believe  that  evening 
editions  prospered  in  New  York,  Philadel- 
phia, and  Boston  with  circulations  of  from 
four  to  ten  thousand  as  late  as  1880. 

138 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

The  first  person  to  take  the  newspaper  to 
the  reader  with  system  and  dispatch  was 
Victor  F.  Lawson,  of  the  Chicago  Daily 
News,  who  established  delivery  points  and 
routes  throughout  the  city  with  a  thorough- 
ness that  led  to  an  impregnable  hold  upon 
the  newspaper  readers  of  that  city.  There 
are  two  classes  of  papers — both  successful — 
one  a  creation  of  steady  routine  and  a  regular 
pressure  for  sale;  the  other  dealing  in  ideas 
and  making  the  most  of  events.  Both  suc- 
ceed, but  the  first  is  the  easiest  to  produce 
and  the  most  expensive  to  handle,  for  all 
depends  upon  close  and  systematic  delivery. 
The  reader  does  not  seek  the  paper;  the 
paper  lets  no  possible  reader  escape.  The 
Chicago  News,  the  Philadelphia  Bulletin, 
and  the  Kansas  City  Star  are  conspicuous 
examples  of  this  type.  The  newspaper  of 
ideas  and  expression  depends  more  upon  the 
passing  throng  and  on  aroused  public  inter- 

139 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

est.  It  is  much  more  subject  to  fluctuations 
of  sale  than  the  routine  type  and  requires  far 
greater  energy  and  outlay  in  its  editorial 
production. 

The  cost  of  city  delivery  is  very  great, 
fully  one-half  of  the  return  from  the  retailer 
going  into  the  charge  for  delivering  his  sup- 
plies. In  the  majority  of  cases  a  large  loss 
over  the  return  is  shown  in  white  paper, 
which  must  be  met  by  advertising  revenue — • 
in  a  number  of  instances  subtracting  20  or 
more  cents  per  line  from  this  source  to  over- 
come the  aggregate  expense,  leaving  the  ex- 
cess on  the  net  rate  to  provide  the  hard- 
earned  profits. 

Newspaper  distribution  in  America  is  well 
organized  only  in  spots.  The  perfection  of 
system  may  be  found  in  France  where  the 
Paris  newspapers  enjoy  a  nationwide  circu- 
lation, due  to  the  efficiency  of  their  agents  in 
the  cities  and  towns  of  the  provinces.  Paris 

140 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

is  a  centre  in  a  small  country,  no  part  of 
which  is  well  out  of  reach  of  a  reasonable 
time  for  delivery.  This,  coupled  with  the  fact 
that  the  Paris  paper  is  really  more  of  a  publi- 
cation than  a  news  carrier,  which  extends  the 
life  of  its  contents,  accounts  for  the  great  cir- 
culations of  Le  Matin,  Le  Petit  Parisien, 
Le  Journal  and  Le  Petit  Journal.  A  Paris 
morning  newspaper  of  large  circulation 
starts  its  presses  late  in  the  afternoon  and 
runs  continuously  on  various  editions  until 
4:  00A.M. 

In  France,  too,  another  factor  is  found, 
lacking  in  America,  and  that  is  plenty  of 
reliable  circulators  willing  to  work  for  the 
small  profit  from  the  sale  of  the  newspapers. 
A  few  extra  francs  a  week  will  engage  good 
service  by  a  capable  man  who  regards  the 
addition  to  his  income  as  a  valuable  asset. 
He  can  be  relied  upon  to  do  his  work 
properly.  In  America  for  the  most  part  the 

141 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

paper  is  at  the  mercy  of  boys  who  may  or 
may  not  come  to  time ;  who  dread  the  cold  or 
wet  day,  or  dislike  early  rising,  and  are  poor 
collectors  of  money  due  them,  and  in  turn 
fail  their  employers. 

The  rural  free  delivery  has  done  much  for 
newspaper  distribution  in  the  West,  but  is  of 
little  service  in  the  East.  The  post-office  re- 
gards second-class  matter  as  an  unprofitable 
burden  and  does  not  permit  the  carrier  to 
deliver  newspapers  from  addressed  copies, 
but  insists  that  each  shall  be  separately 
wrapped  and  directed,  thus  greatly  increas- 
ing the  work  of  sorting  for  the  rural  routes. 
Papers  can  be  sent  in  bulk  to  a  post-office 
with  the  name  of  the  subscriber  stamped  on 
each  copy,  but  if  meant  to  go  out  by  carrier 
in  the  country,  must  be  "  singles." 

Thus  cost  is  increased  and  convenience 
vexed  on  a  theory  that  if  a  carrier  were 
allowed  to  receive  papers  in  bulk,  delivering 

142 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

and  collecting,  he  might  become  attached  to 
the  newspaper  offering  the  best  rewards,  and 
so  operate  unfairly  against  others. 

No  such  difficulty  exists  in  Germany 
where  the  post-office  takes  over  to  an  extent 
the  functions  of  a  newsdealer,  orders  publi- 
cations direct  from  the  publisher,  pays  the 
charges  and  collects  from  the  subscriber. 
This  has  the  disadvantage  of  government 
control  of  circulation  that  might  in  season  be 
applied  to  the  crushing  of  an  offensive  sheet. 

The  French  system  of  direct  dealing  with 
an  agent  of  the  publisher's  own  choosing  is 
therefore  the  nearest  to  safety  and  good  ser- 
vice. Of  late  years,  with  their  keenness  for 
comprehending  its  earning  power,  the  He- 
brew immigrants  have  seized  the  news  trade 
with  its  percentage  of  from  25  to  40  per  cent, 
of  profit  and  have  stabilized  it  to  a  degree, 
making  possible  the  abolition  of  the  waste  of 
"  returns  "  from  unsold  papers  and  giving 

143 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

an  attention  to  business  such  as  the  shifting, 
uncertain  boy  could  never  be  made  to  apply. 
The  subscriber,  once  the  mainstay  of  the 
newspaper,  is  now  the  least  of  its  supporters. 
The  papers  with  the  largest  circulations  usu- 
ally have  the  smallest  subscription  lists.  The 
New  York  morning  newspaper  with  the 
greatest  output  has  less  than  10,000  names 
on  its  mail  galleys.  Dailies  making  a 
specialty  of  financial,  business  or  shipping 
jiews  rule  larger  in  direct  relationship,  but 
the  convenience  of  the  delivery  by  dealer,  and 
the  doing  away  with  the  need  of  advance 
payments,  has  cut  out  the  "  old  subscriber," 
who  felt  that  he  had  almost  a  proprietary 
interest  in  his  paper  and  at  times  asserted 
this  belief  most  disagreeably,  as  for  instance 
the  one  who  wrote  Horace  Greeley,  fiercely 
demanding  that  he  "  stop  "  the  Tribune  in- 
stantly. This  Mr.  Greeley  meekly  declined 
to  do.  No  paper  ever  felt  the  wrath  of  the 

144 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

subscriber  so  heavily  as  did  the  founder  of 
the  Tribune.  When  he  went  bail  for  Jeffer- 
son Davis  his  weekly  list  was  decimated  and 
his  daily  received  a  curtailment  from  which  it 
never  rallied  in  his  time.  The  indignant  sub- 
scribers refused  to  take  the  paper  from  the 
post-office,  and,  following  the  custom  at  the 
period,  when  the  postage  was  collected  from 
the  addressee,  the  P.  O.  sent  back  the  un- 
claimed copies  by  the  cart  load. 

Catering  to  the  subscriber  has  therefore 
ceased  to  be  a  newspaper  weakness.  The 
old-fashioned  publisher  who  lived  on  his 
mail  list  was  in  perpetual  terror  and  often 
unduly  influenced  by  the  complaints  of  the 
man  who  sent  in  his  remittance  yearly.  Now 
the  relations  are  impersonal  and  the  paper's 
success  depends  upon  its  command  of  inter- 
est, instead  of  opinion. 

A  very  famous  newspaper  in  an  eastern 
city  changed  hands  after  a  long  stay  as  the 

10  145 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

Swindling  support  of  an  estate.  From  first 
place  it  had  slipped  to  sixth  in  circulation! 
It. had  J  long  followed  the  trend  of  "the 'sub* 
scriber  and  repelled  new  ideas.  The  pur* 
chaser  took  a  census  of  his  14,000  readers  and 
found  their  average  age  *vas  64  years !  Some 
radical  steps  reduced  the  average  age  to  34 
years  and  multiplied  the  number  by  five! 

Before  the  day  of  the  modern  circulation 
manager,  no  daily  newspaper  resorted  to  ad*- 
vertising  itself,  except  by  the  annual  pros- 
pectus put  out  through  the  country  weeklies 
in  return,  for  an  "  exchange  "  at  the  New 
Year.  Then,  in  1891,  a  newspaper  cir- 
culation was  made  almost  over  night  by 
spectacular  advertising.  The  New  York 
Recorder,  started  in  February  of  that  year, 
acquired  an  excellent  following  through  the 
fact  that  James  B.  Duke,  with  the  thrill  of 
success  upon  him  as  a  tobacco  merchant, 
seized  the  platforms  of  the  elevated  roads,  to 

146 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

carry  great  poster^  announcing  the  new 
arrival  in  city  journalism.  That  the  paper 
failed  later  was  due  not  to  its  advertising 
basis,  but  to  editorial  weaknesses,  following 
loss  of  interest  in  the  property  by  its  owners. 

The  circulation  manager  who  would  push 
his  paper  to  success  will  find  powerful  adver- 
tising an  efficient  aid.  Lord  Northcliff  e  once 
told  me  that  he  had  successfully  launched  six 
weeklies  in  London  on  varied  versions  of 
"  East  Lynne,"  using  dramatic  posters  to 
herald  the  coming  of  each  sheet! 

The  early  weekly  "  story  "  papers,  now 
eclipsed  by  the  popular  monthlies,  were 
"  lifted  "  by  advertising.  Robert  Bonner,  of 
the  New  York  Ledger,  taught  the  trick. 
His  advertisements  were  often  a  page  in  size 
and  mainly  reiterations  of  a  single  sentence 
or  two.  His  favorite  device  was  to  buy  a 
page  in  the  New  York  Herald,  letting  the 
cost  be  known,  with  the  result  of  a  never- 

147 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

failing  rise.  But  of  course  he  always  had 
something  to  sell  I 

Patrick  and  Stephen  Farrelly,  the  makers 
of  the  American  News  Company,  were  boys 
in  the  circulation  department  of  the  Ledger. 
Its  office  was  at  the  corner  of  Spruce  and 
William  streets,  New  York.  When  Henry 
Ward  Beecher's  novel  "Norwood"  appeared 
in  the  Ledger,  after  the  sensational  an- 
nouncements described,  a  line  of  New  York- 
ers reaching  from  Broadway  and  Ann 
Streets,  and  winding  through  the  interme- 
diary blocks  would  form  on  publication 
mornings,  eager  to  secure  the  first  copies 
containing  the  rather  mediocre  tale! 

Mr.  Artemus  Ward  once  burlesqued 
Ledger  advertising  in  this  fashion : 

It  is  the  all-firedest  paper  ever  printed. 
It  is  the  all-firedest  paper  ever  printed.     v 
It  is  the  all-firedest  paper  ever  printed. 
It  is  the  all-firedest  paper  ever  printed. 
148 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

It's  the  cussedest  best  paper  in  the  world. 

It's  the  cussedest  best  paper  in  the  world. 

It's  the  cussedest  best  paper  in  the  world. 

It's  the  cussedest  best  paper  in  the  world. 

It's  a  moral  paper. 
It's  a  moral  paper. 
It's  a  moral  paper. 
It's  a  moral  paper. 

Sold  at  all  the  corner  groceries. 
Sold  at  all  the  corner  groceries. 
Sold  at  all  the  corner  groceries. 
Sold  at  all  the  corner  groceries. 

All  of  which  went  to  the  Ledger's 
advantage ! 

Some  delusions  in  circulation  departments 
cost  the  owners  dear.  One  of  these  is  that 
the  dealers  sell  the  paper,  whereas  the  public 
buy.  Much  money  has  been  wasted  in  sub- 
sidies, free  stands  and  unsalable  copies  that 
might  have  gone  profitably  into  better  mat- 
ter and  swifter  deliveries.  The  excuse  for 
this  hideous  waste  of  "  returns,"  meaning  the 
taking  back  of  papers  for  which  there  is  no 

149 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

demand,  is  "  representation  " — a  belief  that 
the  advertiser  will  feel  that  the  particular 
paper  is  not  "  circulated  "  because  it  is  not 
visible  on  news-stands  long  after  the  selling 
period  has  passed.  If  the  advertiser  is  really 
thinking  very  deeply  on  the  subject  it  must 
occur  to  him  that  a  pile  of  unsold  papers  in- 
dicates considerable  lack  of  interest  in  their 
contents! 

With  a  daily  consumption  of  news  print 
aggregating  5000  tons  an  average  return  of 
ten  per  cent,  means  500  tons  per  day  of 
waste,  or  to  put  it  more  potently  the  needless 
sacrifice  of  the  spruce  trees  on  fifty  acres  of 
land !  Financially  it  figures  $20,000  a  day  in 
money  loss  to  the  press ! 

The  successful  papers  in  New  York  and 
a  few  other  cities  are  nonreturnable,  but  the 
evil  exists  almost  universally  and  is  one  of 
the  greatest  pilferers  of  newspaper  earnings. 

The  average  editor  is  apt  to  think  that  if 

150 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

his  paper  is  not  "  represented  "  in  this  fash- 
ion its  circulation  is  being  neglected.  The 
real  reason  for  unsold  heaps  is  a  poor  paper. 
The  managing  editor  of  a  great  New  York 
daily,  that  had  successfully  cut  off  returns, 
complained  to  the  manager  that  he  was  un- 
able to  get  the  morning  edition  at  Fifty- 
ninth  Street  and  Eighth  Avenue. 

"  What  time  was  it?  "  he  was  asked. 

"  About  eleven  o'clock!  " 

"  Well,"  was  the  reply, "  if  I  ever  hear  that 
you  can  buy  this  paper  at  that  hour  we'll  get 
a  new  managing  editor!  " 

Which  epitomizes  the  point! 

THE  COUNTRY  PAPER 

AMERICA  is  the  fertile  home  of  the  rural 
press.  Nowhere  in  the  world  can  be  found 
so  many  communities  provided  with  one  or 
more  "  local  "  newspapers,  devoted  to  telling 
the  neighbors  what  is  going  on  about  and 
among  themselves.  There  are  about  20,000 

151 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

rural  weeklies  in  the  United  States  con- 
ducted with  varying  degrees  of  enterprise 
and  profit,  but  all  of  immeasurable  benefit 
in  the  way  of  disseminating  intelligence  and 
keeping  their  public  informed. 

It  is  a  field  that  should  keep  at  least 
100,000  persons  well  and  comfortably  em- 
ployed and  afford  an  annual  opening  for 
new  talent  of  respectable  proportions.  The 
editor  and  owner  is  usually  one  of  the  work- 
men, more  or  less  desultorily  employed,  often 
a  printer  who  has  added  a  paper  to  the  prod- 
ucts of  his  shop  and  content  if  he  can  glean 
"  journeyman's  "  wages  out  of  the  enter- 
prise. Occasionally  he  is  a  politician  who  has 
felt  the  call,  or  a  clergyman  who  has  failed 
to  preach  himself  into  a  prosperous  pulpit, 
or  a  lawyer  who  has  not  met  expectations  at 
the  bar.  Too  often  in  the  past  he  has  been  a 
man  who  failed  at  other  things  and  turned 
to  "  editing  "  as  a  last  resort.  This  has  pro- 

152 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

duced  a  large  mortality  in  the  country  press, 
much  of  it  undeserved,  if  the  publisher  could 
have  had  a  little  training  in  business  or  edi- 
torial lines,  instead  of  drifting  into  the  busi- 
ness. But  as  drifting  is  the  American  way 
it  has  to  be  put  up  with.  It  seems,  though, 
that  a  more  correct  sense  of  destination  is 
arising  through  the  growing  prosperity  of 
the  country  and  a  greater  appreciation  of  the 
value  of  the  rural  press. 

Life  in  the  office  of  the  small  weekly  means 
a  chance  to  do  almost  everything  that  can  be 
done;  in  making  a  newspaper.  If  it  is  done 
well  and  with  diligence,  profit  must  ensue,  a 
profit  quite  comparable  with  the  returns  paid 
the  lawyer,  doctor  or  other  professional  man 
of  the  country  town. 

There  is  no  better  property  to  own  nor  a 
more  pleasant  life  to  lead  than  that  which 
should  go  with  editing  a  country  newspaper. 
It  is  a  common  jest  to  speak  of  the  "  poor  " 

153 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

editor.  Editors  sometimes  lend  themselves 
to  the  idea.  No  editor  in  any  good  American 
town  of  two  thousand  inhabitants  ought  to 
be  poor,  going  by  local  standards,  if  he  will 
follow  these  lines  and  guide  his  course 
accordingly : 

1.  Run  his  paper  entirely  as  a  newspaper. 
Do  not  meddle  in  politics  of  any  sort.  Do  not 
try  to  improve  the  community  any  faster 
than  it  wants  to  be  improved  and  do  not 
borrow  money  of  your  advertisers  or  any 
so-called  "  leading  citizens."     Get  it  of  the 
bank,  which  is  nonpartisan  and  only  wants 
interest  in  return  for  the  money. 

2.  Have  no  editorials  unless  they  be  little 
elaborations  of  facts.    The  tendency  to  blow 
the  bugle  is  almost  irresistible  if  the  horn  is 
handy. 

3.  Get  a  good  correspondent  in  every 
town,  big  or  little,  in  your  territory  and 
print  what  he  writes  so  long  as  he  does  not  lie 

154 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

or  insult  anybody.  Do  not  edit  his  English, 
even  if  a  little  twisted;  it  hurts  his  feel- 
ings and  makes  his  meaning  obscure  to  his 
neighbors.  This  is  one  of  the  secrets  of 
keeping  country  correspondents  and  getting 
good  out  of  them.  They  are  invaluable. 

4.  Don't  do  your  work  or  your  advertis- 
ing for  nothing.    Remember  that  as  a  rule 
you  have  a  monopoly  of  the  field.    When  the 
agent  sends  ten  dollars  in  cash  for  fifty 
dollars'  worth  of  advertising,  and  the  pub- 
lisher prints  it  because  he  does  not  know 
when  he  will  see  ten  dollars  again,  he  makes 
a  great  mistake.    Nobody  can  make  money 
by  doing  fifty  dollars'  worth  of  business  for 
ten,  dollars,  and  in  accepting  the  ten  the 
publisher  establishes  a  rate  that  he  will  never 
be  able  to  increase  on  the  foreign  list  because 
in  making  quotations  against  rivals  the  fa- 
vored agent  is  always  able  to  hold  the  field. 

5.  The  small  community  is  a  sensitive 

155 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

community.  The  editorial  lash  cuts  it  more 
deeply  than  any  blow  that  can  be  dealt.  Lay 
low  and  print  the  news.  This  does  not  mean 
that  a  man  need  be  a  coward  or  a  sneak 
because  he  runs  a  country  paper.  It  means 
that  the  community  does  not  require  his  ad- 
vice or  his  guidance  and  that  when  he  tries 
to  sell  them  something  they  do  not  want  he 
makes  a  mistake.  They  do  want  the  news 
and  they  will  always  pay  for  it. 

6.  The     country     "  items "     are     often 
laughed  at,  but  no  greater  error  could  be 
made   than   to    belittle    their    importance. 
They  are  the  life  of  the  paper,  and  however 
trivial,  often  give  the  most  pleasure  to  that 
very  valuable  "  single  seal "  list  of  subscrib- 
ers who  pay  in  advance  and  who,  scattered 
all  over  the  world,  want  all  the  news  from 
"home." 

7.  There  is  "  interest "  in  almost  every- 
thing that  happens,  could  you  but  find  it,  as 

156 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

you  must  to  be  a  successful  maker  of  news- 
papers. Above  all,  be  particular  to  print 
the  things  about  which  your  constituency 
is  already  informed  by  personal  contact. 
Nothing  is  so  interesting  as  to  read  about  an 
event  we  have  seen  wholly  or  in  part.  The 
reader  likes  to  compare  the  printed  report 
with  his  own  recollection.  He  wants  to 
know  if  the  reporter  saw  the  dog  bite  the 
boy. 

The  simple  art  of  house  painting  fur- 
nishes many  items  that  are  laughed  at,  but 
often  they  please  the  subscriber  and  interest 
the  neighborhood.  Births,  deaths  and  mar- 
riages should  be  carefully  collected  and 
scandals  avoided  in  a  country  paper.  Little 
headlines  help.  Most  country  editors  pay 
too  little  attention  to  attractive  make-up. 
Careful  job  printing,  careful  setting  of  ad- 
vertisements, promptness  in  getting  out 
work,  are  prime  requisites  for  success. 

157 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

8.  Be  careful  of  your  collections.    When 
people  get  so  they  call  you  by  your  first 
name  it  is  hard  to  collect  from  them.    Don't 
let  bills  run.     All  pay  out  and  no  pay  in 
leads  to  borrowing,  and  borrowing  leads  to 
ruin. 

9.  In  keeping  books  charge  up  a  fair  sum 
for  the  value  of  your  own  services.    Don't 
assume   that  your   share   of  the   labor   is 
"thrown  in"  just  because  you  happen  to 
own  the  plant.    Charge  up  the  rent  to  the 
business  even  if  you  own  the  building.    Un- 
reckoned    overhead    has    ruined    many    a 
printer  or  kept  him  poor.    In  this  way  you 
can  establish  the  true  cost  of  operating  and 
maintain  proper  prices  for  job  work  and 
advertising.     Keep   track   of  the   earning 
power  of  all  the  items  that  enter  into  the 
working  of  the  shop.    Don't  run  presses  "  to 
pay  the  help."    Run  them  to  pay  the  boss. 

10.  Don't  take  a  back  seat  in  business 

158 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

affairs.  The  newspaper  is  the  life-centre  of 
the  town — its  throbbing  heart.  The  suc- 
cessful newspaper  breeds  a  successful  town. 
It  should  not  place  itself  in  the  position  of 
begging  support.  The  town  needs  the  news- 
paper more  than  the  newspaper  needs  the 
town.  The  vitality  of  modern  life  does  not 
give  time  for  word  of  mouth  to  circulate. 
The  newspaper  is  the  spokesman,  the  stimu- 
lator, the  unifier,  the  only  friend  of  the  com- 
munity at  large. 

The  small  city  daily  has  become  in  most 
instances  an  extremely  profitable  enterprise. 
There  has  been  in  the  first  sixteen  years  of 
the  century  a  great  advance  in  the  appear- 
ance and  contents  of  the  minor  town  dailies* 
far  more,  if  the  truth  be  told,  than  in  their 
metropolitan  competitors.  Indeed,  so  strong 
a  barrier  have  the  "  country  "  dailies  formed 
that  the  dream  of  a  "  national "  daily  can 
only  be  a  dream!  The  country  editor  now 

159 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

leaves  little  to  be  awaited  for  beyond  opinion 
from  his  metropolitan  brothers.  Cities  of 
20,000  or  even  less  produce  one  or  two 
papers  of  undeniable  quality.  In  Ohio,  the 
Associated  Dailies  represent  a  membership 
of  120,  all  prosperous  and  potential  in  their 
cities,  earning  from  $10,000  to  $35,000  a  year 
each  for  their  owners  in  many  instances,  and 
affording  great  benefits  to  their  towns.  The 
country  daily  is  the  best  defender  the  local 
merchant  has  from  the  city  and  mail  order 
competitor,  if  he  will  but  use  it  as  he  should. 
Cooperation  is  at  the  bottom  of  the  suc- 
cess of  the  modern  small  city  daily.  It  en- 
joys a  membership  in  the  great  Associated 
Press,  or  can  subscribe  to  the  commercially 
managed  United,  or  International,  Press 
services.  These  three  give  the  publisher  the 
best  of  everything,  in  crisp,  and  usually  well- 
digested  form,  ready  for  the  compositor. 
Numerous  syndicates,  either  independent,  or 

160 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

newspapers  selling  their  by-products,  afford 
"  features  "  of  interest  and  a  competent  sup- 
ply of  pictures.  The  editor  does  not  have  to 
be  behind  the  age  in  anything.  This  leaves 
him  free  to  garner  and  winnow  local  news 
where  he  is  beyond  the  competition  of  the 
metropolis.  By  the  same  process  of  locali- 
zation the  large  paper  becomes  more  and 
more  local  and  has  a  general  appeal  only  so 
far  as  events  in  a  big  centre  have  an  inter- 
est greater  than  a  similar  occurrence  in 
Poughkeepsie.  There  are  limits  to  the  size 
at  which  a  paper  of  large  circulation  can  be 
published  and  these  lead  it  to  discard  every- 
thing but  the  essentials  if  it  is  to  be  success- 
fully produced.  This  makes  it  impossible, 
even  if  early  delivery  were  feasible,  which  is 
limited  by  time  and  distance,  to  "cover" 
local  events  in  competition  with  the  home 
paper. 
We  are  becoming  more  and  more  "  local " 

11  161 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

in  everything  in  America,  even  though  we 
travel  more  and  know  more.  The  "  home  " 
town  is  the  place  we  think  about  and 
"  home  "  affairs  engross  far  beyond  those  of 
the  state  or  the  nation,  as  was  once  the  case. 
There  has  been  a  sharp  reverse  in  this  respect 
from  the  days  when  Mr.  Bennett  thought 
it  would  be  a  great  card  to  break  the 
monopoly  enjoyed  by  three  Washington 
papers  for  printing  the  debates  of  Congress 
and  offered  to  do  it  without  a  subsidy,  in 
which  purpose,  fortunately  for  the  Herald, 
he  was  defeated,  and  so  had  to  keep  on  print- 
ing things  that  would  interest  New  Yorkers. 
It  is  difficult  to  get  any  inkling  of  what  in- 
dividual Congressmen  are  now  doing  through 
the  city  press  and  the  Metropolitan  papers 
pay  little  or  no  attention  to  the  doings  at 
the  State  Capitals — unless  scandal  breeds. 

The  country  daily  has,  therefore,  a  free 
and  valuable  opening  for  making  up  this  re- 

162 


THE  NEWSPAPER  TRADE 

mission.  It  can  look  out  for  its  district  in 
the  halls  of  legislation  for  all  local  values 
and  still  supply  its  readers  with  the  news  of 
the  world  at  large. 

Circulations  of  from  5000  to  20,000  are  the 
rule.  As  the  cost  of  production  has  grown 
with  size,  it  has  killed  the  old  four-page, 
cheaply  made  newspaper,  and  so  reduced  the 
number  of  publications  in  many  towns,  to  the 
general  advantage.  These  were  usually 
papers  of  opinion.  They  have  been  suc- 
ceeded by  papers  of  purpose.  Towns  of 
25,000  to  40,000  population,  with  one  morn- 
ing and  one  evening  newspaper,  are  well  sup- 
plied and  not  overloaded.  The  tax  on  the 
advertiser  and  reader  is  reasonable  and  the 
profits  to  the  publisher  sure. 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


.       21JuP64DV 

Rtc'D  LD 

JUL  10'64-4p{« 

NOV11I965     fi 

REClB 

urn   1  1  '£^-5  PW 

HOV  1  J-  bo  •  J  ' 

,.    r^crp'T 

l  QAW  Dur 

Ktkcm.JUN30  77 

MAY  17  1989 

AI  ITO    ni^o 

» 

MU  1  L/.   UloL/. 

MAY  o  9  vi 

^&»  2!  4  Pro  -> 

4|  A\f       <  -j,     « 

"«Z3  lygg 

LD  21A-60m-4,'64 
(E4555slO)476B 


General  Library 

University  of  California 

Berkeley 


YC127399 


U.C.  BERKELEY  LIBRARIES 


CDOSBIIBSI 


